General ---------Biology----------------------------------------------------- ------------------Online-------------------------------------- Ch. 12 The Cell Cycle

You inherited 23 long strands of DNA from your mother and 23 matching strands from your father.  This gave you a total of 46  DNA molecules (strands).  Your genes occur as base sequences (AGTCCT..etc.) along the DNA molecule.  "Matching" strands means you inherit two versions of each gene, one from your mother and one from your father.  The DNA molecules remain in your nucleus as long strands until your cell begins to divide.