Diploid cell

A diploid cell (from the Greek διπλόος diplóos 'double' and -oid) (2n) is one that has a double number of chromosomes (unlike gametes), that is, the one that has two sets of chromosomes.

Human somatic cells contain 46 (23×2) chromosomes; that is its diploid number. The gametes, originated in the gonads by means of germ cell meiosis, have only half, 23, which constitutes their haploid number, since in the meiotic division their 46 chromosomes are distributed after a doubling of genetic material (2c→ 4c) into 4 cells, each with 23 chromosomes and a quantity of genetic material, leaving each cell without the complete pair of chromosomes. An example is the African elephant, which in its cells has 56 chromosomes (28 pairs) in total in each of its somatic cells; this is the diploid number, but in its sexual cells within its reproductive organs it only has half, that is, 28 chromosomes, which is the haploid number.