14 Chromosome
represents between 3% and 3.5% of the total DNA in cells. People normally
have two copies of this chromosome as all other non-sex chromosomes. Chromosome
fourteen spans about 106 million base pairs. Base Pairs are two molecules
(nucleotides) on opposite DNA strands that are connected. Adenine (A) forms a
base pair with thymine (T), as does guanine (G) with cytosine (C) in DNA. Base pairs is how DNA is measured.
There are about 1,275 genes in this chromosome.
Chromosome 14 contains
human versions of two genes in sheep associated with unusually muscular
hindquarters, a rare condition known as callipyge (from the Greek for beautiful
buttocks). The genes—MEG3 and MEG8—are activated differently
depending upon which parent they came from. This type of gene regulation is
called genomic imprinting.