X chromosome

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The X chromosome is one of the two sex-determining chromosomes in many animal species, including mammals (the other is the Y chromosome). It is a part of the XY sex-determination system and X0 sex-determination system. The X chromosome was named for its unique properties by early researchers, and this resulted in its counterpart being named the Y chromosome for the next letter in the alphabet when it was discovered later.

For more information about X chromosome, read the full article at Wikipedia.
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News tagged with x chromosome

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The importance of grandmothers in the lives of their grandchildren

The importance of grandmothers in the lives of their grandchildren

Biology / Evolution

created Oct 29, 2009 | popularity 4 / 5 (3) | comments 3

(PhysOrg.com) -- It is widely believed that women live long post-reproductive lives to help care for their grandchildren. According to the "Grandmother Hypothesis," post-menopausal women can increase their ...


Researchers discover mechanism that prevents two species from reproducing

Biology / Biotechnology

created Oct 26, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (6) | comments 3

Cornell researchers have discovered a genetic mechanism in fruit flies that prevents two closely related species from reproducing, a finding that offers clues to how species evolve.


Trembling hands and molecular handshakes

Medicine & Health / Diseases

created Oct 23, 2009 | popularity 4 / 5 (1) | comments 0

The heritable Fragile X tremor/ataxia syndrome is a common neurodegenerative disease. It is assumed to result from a relative lack of the protein Pur-alpha. A new study by a German team under the leadership of Dr. Dierk Niessing ...


Genetic conflict in fish led to evolution of new sex chromosomes

Genetic conflict in fish led to evolution of new sex chromosomes

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Oct 01, 2009 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (5) | comments 0

University of Maryland biologists have genetically mapped the sex chromosomes of several species of cichlid (pronounced "sick-lid") fish from Lake Malawi, East Africa, and identified a mechanism by which new ...


Sex Talk Revelations of the Lonely Y Chromosome

Medicine & Health / Genetics

created Sep 09, 2009 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (3) | comments 3

(PhysOrg.com) -- In the week that the University of Leicester celebrates the 25th anniversary of the discovery of DNA fingerprinting (Thursday September 10) new findings from the world-renowned University of Leicester Department ...


Zoo volunteers help explain mysteries of the genome

Zoo volunteers help explain mysteries of the genome

Biology / Biotechnology

created Sep 07, 2009 | popularity 4 / 5 (1) | comments 0

As we approache the 25th anniversary of the discovery of DNA fingerprinting (September 10), University of Leicester geneticists interested in a particular type of DNA are receiving some help from an unusual ...


Not only the gene itself, its abnormal regulation can also trigger short stature

Medicine & Health / Genetics

created Aug 25, 2009 | popularity 4 / 5 (1) | comments 0

A specific gene is particularly frequently involved in the development of short stature. Researchers in Heidelberg have now discovered that sequences of genetic material on the X and Y chromosome that regulate this gene are ...


Aurora B answers an XIST-ential question

Aurora B answers an XIST-ential question

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Aug 24, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Early in development, mammalian female cells counteract their double dose of X chromosomes by coating one of them with a large RNA named XIST. The RNA binds to the same X chromosome from which it is transcribed ...


Critical link in cell death pathway revealed

Critical link in cell death pathway revealed

Medicine & Health / Cancer

created Jul 22, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

The role of a protein called XIAP in the regulation of cell death has been identified by Walter and Eliza Hall Institute researchers and has led them to recommend caution when drugs called IAP inhibitors are ...


Researcher offers hope for male diabetes sufferers

Medicine & Health / Research

created Jul 20, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists at Glasgow have made a significant discovery in the study of a rare form of diabetes which predominantly affects men.


Male sex chromosome losing genes by rapid evolution, study reveals

Male sex chromosome losing genes by rapid evolution, study reveals

Biology / Evolution

created Jul 17, 2009 | popularity 4.1 / 5 (15) | comments 11

Scientists have long suspected that the sex chromosome that only males carry is deteriorating and could disappear entirely within a few million years, but until now, no one has understood the evolutionary ...


New study rewrites textbook on key genetic phenomenon

Medicine & Health / Genetics

created Jul 01, 2009 | popularity 4 / 5 (2) | comments 1

Because females carry two copies of the X chromosome to males' one X and one Y, they harbor a potentially toxic double dose of the over 1000 genes that reside on the X chromosome.


Female human embryos adjust the balance of X chromosomes before implantation

Medicine & Health / Research

created Jun 29, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Dutch researchers have found the first evidence that a process of inactivating the X chromosome during embryo development and implantation, which was known to occur in mice but unknown in humans, does, in fact, take place ...


Boy or girl? In lizards, egg size matters

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Jun 04, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Whether baby lizards will turn out to be male or female is a more complicated question than scientists would have ever guessed, according to a new report published online on June 4th in Current Biology. The study shows that f ...


What makes a cow a cow? Genome sequence sheds light on ruminant evolution

What makes a cow a cow? Complete bovine genome sequenced

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Apr 23, 2009 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (3) | comments 1

Researchers report today in the journal Science that they have sequenced the bovine genome, for the first time revealing the genetic features that distinguish cattle from humans and other mammals.