Banding of chromosomes
The treatment of chromosomes to reveal characteristic patterns of horizontal bands like bar codes.
The banding patterns lend each chromosome a distinctive appearance so the 22 pairs of human nonsex chromosomes and the X and Y chromosomes can be identified and distinguished without ambiguity.
Banding also permits the recognition of chromosome deletions (lost segments), chromosome duplications (surplus segments) and other types of structural rearrangements of chromosomes.