Chromosome vs. Chromatid

Difference Between Chromosome and Chromatid Chromosome and chromatid are terms in the study of DNA that are often…

Difference Between Chromosome and Chromatid

Chromosome and chromatid are terms in the study of DNA that are often confused in the sense because of its similarity in spelling. These two are closely related to one another and is part of the structure of DNA. DNA or deoxyribonucleic acid contains the genetic information throughout the body of life.

Chromosome

Chromosomes are thread-like structure in the DNA molecules in the nucleus of every cell in our body. In a human cell, there are 46 individual chromosomes or 23 paired chromosomes. The pairing of the 46 chromosomes takes place during the process of meiosis and mitosis. According to the German biologist Theodor Heinrich Boveri, chromosomes are vectors of heredity that he discovered during his extensive study and experiments.

Chromatid

Chromatid is one of two similar copies of DNA that adds up to a single chromosome. It should also take in a pair of chromosomes, there are two chromatids is the component that are joined by a centromere. During cell division (mitosis and meiosis), they are separated from each other and now called Sister chromatids that are identical to each other.

The difference between the chromosome and chromatid

Although these terms are closely related and very perplexing to each other, there are always a lot of things that makes each of them different. A long, continuous thread of DNA is what chromosomes are but when two chromatids are joined together with a centromere, it produces a single chromosome. Chromosomes, as mentioned above, are vectors of heredity or those carrying the genes from one organism to another such as physical appearance and the different characteristics while chromatids are those who made possible the replication these cells.

These terms of DNA are really perplexing if not deeply studied due to the fact that they are connected with each other. To make it simple so that everyone can understand, the chromosomes when viewed through a microscope looks like a form of X. Divide X by half and it would result in> and <. A single >or< is what you call a chromatid. The point of contact at the center is the centromere and the whole X is the chromosome.

 

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