The birth of a male sex chromosome in Atlantic herring

The evolution of sex chromosomes is of crucial importance in biology as it stabilizes the mechanism underlying sex determination and usually results in an equal sex ratio. An international team of scientists, led by researchers ...

Why the 'wimpy' Y chromosome hasn't evolved out of existence

Much smaller than its counterpart, the X chromosome, the Y chromosome has shrunken drastically over 200 million years of evolution. Even those who study it have used the word "wimpy" to describe it, and yet it continues to ...

Scientists use CRISPR technology to insert sex-determining gene

Scientists at the University of California, Davis, have successfully produced a bull calf, named Cosmo, who was genome-edited as an embryo so that he'll produce more male offspring. The research was presented in a poster ...

Scientists achieve first complete assembly of human X chromosome

Although the current human reference genome is the most accurate and complete vertebrate genome ever produced, there are still gaps in the DNA sequence, even after two decades of improvements. Now, for the first time, scientists ...

The Y chromosome is disappearing: What will happen to men?

The Y chromosome may be a symbol of masculinity, but it is becoming increasingly clear that it is anything but strong and enduring. Although it carries the "master switch" gene, SRY, that determines whether an embryo will ...

Breaking up is hard to do (especially for sex chromosomes)

As chromosomes go, X and Y make an unlikely pair. The X is large and contains thousands of genes critical for life. The Y, by contrast, is little more than a nub. Its main purpose is to provide the instructions for initiating ...

page 3 from 9