Question

What would have happened if the male and female gametes had been diploid?

Answer 1

The male and the female gametes are haploid. This is because they undergo the reduction division or meiosis during the process of their formation. The meiosis causes the diploid germ cells to be converted into the haploid gametes.

Complete answer:
The human body has forty-six chromosomes in the diploid set. This means that the haploid set has twenty-three chromosomes. Out of the twenty-three chromosomes, twenty-two is the autosomes. These chromosomes are seen in both males and females. One remaining pair is the sex chromosome. It is known as the allosome and it differs in both males and females. Only human gametes are haploid in nature. The rest of the body is diploid. This is done so that after fusion the original ploidy level can be restored.
If the gametes of the male and female had been diploid then the zygote formed after fusion would have double the chromosomes of the gamete. This means the zygote would have ninety-two chromosomes. In other words, it would be tetraploid. Tetraploid is a condition of polyploidy. Polyploidy causes various types of genetic disorders in humans. The baby would have an abnormal chromosome disorder. One example of this disorder is Down’s syndrome which is the trisomy of the 21st chromosome. Other examples include Klinefelter’s syndrome, Turner’s syndrome, Jacob’s syndrome, Super females, etc.

Note: The chromosomes are the thread-like structures that carry genetic information from one generation to another generation. They are the condensed form of the chromatin threads. Chromatin threads or fibers are very fine, thread-like structures that contain DNA, histone proteins, non-histone proteins, and RNA.