Karyotype of normal human male chromosomes. A karyotype is a photomicrograph of chromosomes that looks at the number, form, and size of the chromosomes of an individual or species. This karyotype characterizes a human male as it contains both the X and Y sex chromosomes. Two X chromosomes would determine a a female. A chromosome is formed from a DNA molecule strand containing gene segments that carry portions of hereditary information. Human beings have 23 Chromosomes. There are two copies of each chromosome in each of our cells, one set from the maternal and the other from the paternal parent.