Monosomes

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Describes a cell or organism carrying only a single chromosome from a normally paired set, a condition often seen in genetic studies
2. Refers to a chromosome present without its usual partner, so that a cell has one copy where two would normally occur
3. Denotes a cell in which one chromosome of a homologous pair is missing, leaving it with an incomplete set of genetic material

Etymology: "Monosomes" is the plural of "monosome," a noun meaning a cell lacking one chromosome from a usual pair. The word is built from the prefix "mono-," meaning "one" or "single," and "-some," from the Greek "soma," meaning "body." Put together, the name describes a cell with a single body of the chromosome in question, where a typical cell carries two. The "-some" element is the key to the rest of the family. Biologists use it for chromosome names such as "trisome" and "disome," which describe cells with three or two copies of a given chromosome. Each term follows the same pattern, so the number prefix tells you how many copies are present. A cell with one copy of a chromosome that normally comes in pairs is the monosome case, the opposite of the trisome case, where an extra copy is present.