True or false homologous chromosomes are genetically identical to each other.
Answered on
Statement is false .
Explanation: Since homologous chromosomes are not identical and do not originate from the same organism, they are different from sister chromatids. Sister chromatids result after DNA replication has occurred, and thus are identical, side-by-side duplicates of each other.
A couple of homologous chromosomes, or homologs, are a set of one maternal and one paternal chromosome that pair up with each other inside a cell during fertilization. Homologous have the same genes in the same loci where they provide points along each chromosome which enable a pair of chromosomes to align correctly with each other before separating during meiosis. This is the basis for Mendelian inheritance which characterizes inheritance patterns of genetic material from an organism to its offspring parent developmental cell at the given time and area.