• Origin: Greek (chroma = colour, soma = body) - because they stain well with certain dyes.
• Every human cell with a nucleus contains these thread-like structures.
• Think of a chromosome as a "package" filled with coiled up DNA.

🎈Fun Fact: DNA looks like a twisted ladder called a double helix! Imagine climbing up that in your favorite sneakers.

• It's a super long code made up of chemical bases:
  • A = Adenine
  • G = Guanine
  • C = Cytosine
  • T = Thymine
• These bases pair up, like the best dance partners ever.
• The base pairs are like the steps on our ladder (the double helix).

🍔 Food for Thought: If DNA was a book, it'd have about 3 billion letters! That's one thick novel.

• Our 3 billion base "book" is divided into 23 "chapters" or chromosomes.
• Each chromosome is there twice (except for special ones in sex cells).
• We've got 23 pairs, one from mom and one from dad.
• Both code for the same features (like your cute nose or your epic ability to dance) but might be a tad different.