Question

when comparing a human sperm cell to a skin cell from the same individual, what differences would be expected?
the sperm cell would contain four alleles for a given gene; the skin cell would contain two alleles.
the sperm cell would contain only one allele for a given gene; the skin cell would contain two alleles.
both sperm and skin cells may carry different alleles for an individual gene.
both sperm and skin cells would contain 46 chromosomes found as homologous pairs.

Explanation:

• Sperm cells are gametes (sex cells) and are haploid. This means for each gene, they have only one allele.
• Skin cells are somatic cells (body cells) and are diploid. So, for each gene, they have two alleles (one from each parent).
• Sperm cells have 23 chromosomes (not in homologous pairs), while skin cells have 46 chromosomes (in 23 homologous pairs). Also, sperm cells are produced through meiosis which can lead to genetic variation, but the key difference here is the ploidy - related allele number.

Answer:

The sperm cell would contain only one allele for a given gene; the skin cell would contain two alleles.