About My Chromosome Images


The inversion image and the translocation image are diagrams, but they aren't diagrams of genes. Rather, they are just cleaned-up versions of microscope photographs.

The images are scanned from

The Striking Resemblance of High Resolution G-Banded Chromosomes of Man and Chimpanzee, J.J. Yunis, J.R. Sawyer and K. Dunham, Science Vol. 208, pp. 1145-1148 (6 June 1980)
The article shows all 23 chromosome pairs, if you wish to get a balanced picture. This web page broadens the comparison to include gorillas and orangutans.

The basic technique is to grab a cell which is dividing, and kill it just when it gets to the right moment - in this case, late prophase. (Note that no fertilized egg is involved, so killing these things is morally the same as plucking a hair.)

The cells are then treated with a chemical which makes some parts of the cell change color. This is called staining the cell. The hard thing is to find the right staining chemical. This article got published because they had a new staining technique, which revealed more chromosome detail than ever before.


Last modified: 29 May 2000

Up to the inversion page.

Back to the Creation/Evolution page.

Email a comment.

Search this web site