So, say I get a set of chromosomes from my Mum which contains the X chromosome and the same from my Dad, but with the Y chromosome. I now have two sets of the same 22 chromosomes, plus an X and a Y.
For chromosome number one for example, is everything from my Dad’s side activated? My Mum’s? Or is is a random selection of genes within each chromosome?
And does the X chromosome do anything for me, or is it turned off, and only used if I pass it on to the next generation?
Follow up question: I believe that women actually recombine their X chromosomes when passing these on, but men can’t recombine X and Y. So everything on your Dad’s side stays the same. Does this have any impact? For example are you more likely to inherit genetic defects from your Dad’s side?
It uses both. I’ve got a gene that is defective in both chromosomes. It’s defective in different places in both chromosomes. Because the encoding for an entire complete protein is there (just in two different chromosomes), it still kinda works. Not as good as if I didn’t have two defective alleles (copies of the gene), but still better than nothing.