Chromosome abnormalities

A chromosome anomaly, abnormality, aberration, or mutation is a missing, extra, or irregular portion of chromosomal DNA. It can be from an atypical number of chromosomes or a structural abnormality in one or more chromosomes. Chromosome mutation was formerly used in a strict sense to mean a change in a chromosomal segment, involving more than one gene. A karyotype refers to a full set of chromosomes from an individual that can be compared to a "normal" karyotype for the species via genetic testing. A chromosome anomaly may be detected or confirmed in this manner. Chromosome anomalies usually occur when there is an error in cell division following meiosis or mitosis. There are many types of chromosome anomalies. They can be organized into two basic groups, numerical and structural anomalies.

This is called aneuploidy (an abnormal number of chromosomes), and occurs when an individual either is missing a chromosome from a pair (monosomy) or has more than two chromosomes of a pair (trisomy, tetrasomy, etc.).

In humans, an example of a condition caused by a numerical anomaly is Down Syndrome, also known as Trisomy 21 (an individual with Down Syndrome has three copies of chromosome 21, rather than two). The frequency of Trisomy 21 has been determined to be a function of Advanced maternal age.

An example of monosomy is Turner syndrome, where the individual is born with only one sex chromosome, an X.

Exposure of males to certain lifestyle, environmental and/or occupational hazards may increase the risk of aneuploid spermatozoa. In particular, risk of aneuploidy is increased by tobacco smoking, and occupational exposure to benzene,insecticides, and perfluorinated compounds. Increased aneuploidy is often associated with increased DNA damage in spermatozoa.

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