Mention the causes of chromosomal disorders in humans. How do these disorders occur ?
The chromosomal disorders are caused due to absence or excess or abnormal arrangement of one or more chromosomes. Failure of segregation of chromatids during cell division cycle results in the gain or loss of a chromosome(s), called aneuploidy. Either an additional copy of a chromosome may be included in an individual or an individual may lack one of any one pair of chromosomes. These situations are known as trisomy or monosomy of a chromosome, respectively.
For example: Down’s syndrome results in the gain of an extra copy of chromosome 21 (Trisomy of 21) Turner’s syndrome results due to the loss of an X chromosome in human females. (45 with XO) Klinefelter’s Syndrome is caused due to the presence of an additional copy of X-chromosome (47, XXY)
Failure of cytokinesis after the telophase stage of cell division results in an increase in a whole set of chromosomes in an organism and, this phenomenon is known as polyploidy. This condition is often seen in plants.