Y chromosome
The Y chromosome is the one of the two sex-determining chromosomes in humans. The human Y chromosome is composed of about 60 million base pairs.

Most humans have one pair of sex chromosomes in each cell. Males have one Y chromosome and one X chromosome, while females have two X chromosomes. The Y chromosome also contains other genes needed for normal sperm production.
There are exceptions, however, some men have two Xs and a Y (ie "XXY", aka Klinefelter's syndrome), or one X and two Ys (ie XYY syndrome). There are other exceptions in which SRY (ie Sex-determining Region Y) is damaged (leading to an XY female), or copied to the X (leading to an XX male).
In humans, the Y chromosome spans about 58 million base pairs (the building blocks of DNA) and represents approximately 2% of the total DNA in a human cell. The human Y chromosome contains 86 genes, which code for only 23 distinct proteins. Traits that are inherited via the Y chromosome are called holandric traits.
The human Y chromosome is unable to recombine with the X chromosome, except for small pieces of pseudoautosomal regions at the telomeres (which comprise about 5% of the chromosome's length). These regions are relics of ancient homology between the X and Y chromosomes. The bulk of the Y chromosome which does not recombine is called the "NRY" or non-recombining region of the Y chromosome. It is the SNPs in this region which are used for tracing direct paternal ancestral lines.
The Y chromosome is the one of the two sex-determining chromosomes in humans. The human Y chromosome is composed of about 60 million base pairs.

Most humans have one pair of sex chromosomes in each cell. Males have one Y chromosome and one X chromosome, while females have two X chromosomes. The Y chromosome also contains other genes needed for normal sperm production.
There are exceptions, however, some men have two Xs and a Y (ie "XXY", aka Klinefelter's syndrome), or one X and two Ys (ie XYY syndrome). There are other exceptions in which SRY (ie Sex-determining Region Y) is damaged (leading to an XY female), or copied to the X (leading to an XX male).
In humans, the Y chromosome spans about 58 million base pairs (the building blocks of DNA) and represents approximately 2% of the total DNA in a human cell. The human Y chromosome contains 86 genes, which code for only 23 distinct proteins. Traits that are inherited via the Y chromosome are called holandric traits.
The human Y chromosome is unable to recombine with the X chromosome, except for small pieces of pseudoautosomal regions at the telomeres (which comprise about 5% of the chromosome's length). These regions are relics of ancient homology between the X and Y chromosomes. The bulk of the Y chromosome which does not recombine is called the "NRY" or non-recombining region of the Y chromosome. It is the SNPs in this region which are used for tracing direct paternal ancestral lines.