Conquer the Kaplan Nursing Entrance 2025 – Prep, Practice, and Prosper!

A key characteristic of autosomes is that they determine body characteristics. Autosomes are any of the chromosomes that are not sex chromosomes, and in humans, there are 22 pairs of autosomes. These chromosomes carry the genetic information that influences a wide variety of traits such as physical features, organ functions, and overall biological processes.

Unlike sex chromosomes, which specifically determine the biological sex of an organism, autosomes contribute to the hereditary material associated with many non-sex-related traits. Each parent contributes one chromosome of each pair, leading to the combination of traits that make each individual unique.

In contrast, sex chromosomes are specifically responsible for determining the genetic sex of an individual, which is why they do not align with the characteristics of autosomes. Additionally, not all traits encoded by autosomal genes are dominant; many can be recessive as well, which also distinguishes them from the idea that they are always dominant traits. Lastly, autosomes do exist in humans, as all humans have both autosomes and sex chromosomes.