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Patent Granted Every cell in the human body, apart from enucleated red blood cells and the haploid gametes, has 23 pairs of chromosomes (for a total of 46). One copy of each pair is inherited from the mother and the other copy is inherited from the father. The first 22 pairs of chromosomes (referred to as autosomes) are numbered from 1 to 22, and are arranged from largest to smallest in a karyotype (see figure). The 23rd pair of chromosomes are the sex chromosomes.