Genetics Glossary: Diploid Cell

A diploid cell is a cell that contains two sets of chromosomes.

One set of chromosomes is donated from each parent.

For example, humans have 2 sets of 23 chromosomes for a total of 46 chromosomes:

• Autosomal chromosomes (non-sex chromosomes) - 22 sets of 2.
  
  
• Sex chromosomes - 1 set of 2.
  

The diploid number of a cell is the number of chromosomes in the cell. This number is commonly abbreviated as 2n, where n stands for the number of chromosomes. For humans this equation would be 2n=46.

Image Credit: Jon C. Glase. Used with permission. The image shows a Lilly Anther cell in Anaphase II.

Additional Reading:

Chromosomes and Gender
Chromosomes are long, stringy aggregates of genes that carry heredity information. Gender is determined by the presence or absence of certain chromosomes.