ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Karyotype

A karyotype is like a picture of a person's chromosomes. Chromosomes are the things inside your body that make you who you are, kind of like a manual for building a person.

A karyotype shows all the 23 pairs of chromosomes that you have in your body. Think of it like taking pictures of your shoes: you have a pair of shoes, which means you have two shoes that look similar. Similarly, in your karyotype, each pair of chromosomes looks similar to each other.

Doctors use karyotypes to figure out if there are any problems with your chromosomes. Sometimes, chromosomes might be missing or have extra pieces, like a puzzle that's missing a few pieces or has some extra ones. These changes in the chromosomes can cause health problems, and karyotypes help doctors figure out what's going on.

So, karyotypes are like a picture of your chromosomes that doctors use to figure out if there are any problems with your chromosomes that might affect your health.
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