Michelle Emblenton, biochemist at inviTRA, tells us about the study of karyotyping:
The karyotype is the set of chromosomes that there are in every cell of the human body. A human cell has 46 chromosomes set up as 23 pairs of chromosomes. One of these pairs is the X and Y chromosome. In the karyotype study the chromosomes are studied to see if there is any alteration in the number or structure of the chromosomes to see if there are any problems. To perform a karyotype study, your doctor will do this via a blood test. The karyotype study is an important fertility test and is generally carried out for the man and the woman in cases of infertility.
Read the full article on: Male Fertility Testing – How Do You Know if You Are Infertile? ( 69).
Michelle Lorraine Embleton
B.Sc. Ph.D.
Biochemist
PhD in Biochemistry, University of Bristol, UK, specialising in DNA : protein intereactions. BSc honours degree in Molecular Biology, Univerisity of Bristol. Translation and editing of scientific and medical literature.
