The human genome is the total number of all genes contained in the chromosome set. Human body cells have a double, diploid chromosome set with a total of 46 chromosomes in the cell nucleus. Each of these consists of long, continuous DNA strands wrapped around numerous nuclear proteins (histones). The individual histone DNA bundles are called nucleosomes. There are non-coding and coding sections within the DNA strand, the latter accounting for only about five percent of the total DNA. The coding DNA sections, the so-called genes, play a role in the formation of proteins and RNA molecules. The functions of non-coding DNA are still largely unknown, but it is assumed that it also has some essential, e.g. structural and regulatory functions. The human genome consists of more than 20,000 genes. Lined up next to each other, the DNA of a single human cell is up to two meters long. 

During reproduction, the information about the structure of the human body is transferred from both parents to the offspring through the DNA. This involves halving the chromosome set of the parents in the germline, after which the fertilization of the female egg cell by the male sperm again results in a complete chromosome set.