Try it on paper first. A hint, the key idea and the worked solution are here when you need them.
A woman has chromosomes. In one primary oocyte, one pair of homologues fails to separate. All the other pairs separate normally. Each egg may be fertilised by a normal sperm with chromosomes.
Mitosis gives two identical diploid cells. Meiosis gives four haploid cells that differ. A cell with pairs of homologues makes kinds of gamete by independent assortment. Non-disjunction gives gametes with or chromosomes.
Have you tried it?
Work it out on paper first. It is fine to get stuck or make a mistake: that is how we learn. When you are ready, go through the solution one step at a time, and check each step against your own.
Step 1. (a) Both members of the pair go to one pole. The two cells after meiosis I have and chromosomes. Each then divides normally. The four cells are . All four are abnormal.
Step 2. (b) Meiosis I is normal, with in each cell. In one cell the sister chromatids of the pair fail to separate. That cell makes cells with and . The other cell makes two normal cells with . The four are .
Step 3. (c) chromosomes. This is a trisomy. When the extra chromosome is chromosome , the child has Down syndrome.
Step 4. (d) chromosomes. This is a monosomy, as in Turner syndrome (45 chromosomes, with one X).
Answer: (a) ; (b) ; (c) , trisomy; (d) .
Check. A failure in anaphase I spoils all four cells, and a failure in anaphase II spoils only two.
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