what is karyotype in biology

A karyotype is an individuals complete set of chromosomes, which can be used to look for abnormalities in chromosome number or structure. It is a laboratory-produced image of a persons chromosomes isolated from an individual cell and arranged in numerical order. Karyotypes describe the chromosome count of an organism and what these chromosomes look like under a light microscope. The preparation and study of karyotypes is part of cytogenetic studies. Karyograms are images of real chromosomes, and each eukaryotic species has its nuclear genome divided among a number of chromosomes that is characteristic of that species/02%3A_Chromosomes_Mitosis_and_Meiosis/2.05%3A_Karyotypes_Describe_Chromosome_Number_and_Structure). In a karyotype, the chromosomes, isolated from a cell, are organized numerically, facilitating the identification of deviations in chromosome number or structure. Karyotyping is the process of pairing and ordering all the chromosomes of an organism, thus providing a genome-wide snapshot of an individuals chromosomes. Karyotypes can be used for many purposes, such as to study chromosomal aberrations, cellular function, taxonomic relationships, medicine, and to gather information about past evolutionary events.