Abstract
Cytogenetics is the study of the structure, function, and evolution of chromosomes, the vehicles of inheritance that reside in the cell nucleus. Cytogenetics deals with chromosome behavior during the divisions of the somatic and early germline cells that produce identical daughter cells with two sets of chromosomes (mitosis) or the final two germline cell divisions that produce germ cells with a single set of chromosomes (meiosis). Human cytogenetics is particularly concerned with how these processes may go wrong and how structural changes arise, because changes in the number or structure of chromosomes are major causes of mental retardation, multiple malformations, cancer, infertility, and spontaneous abortions.
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Miller, O.J., Therman, E. (2001). Origins and Directions of Human Cytogenetics. In: Human Chromosomes. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-0139-4_1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4613-0139-4_1
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