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Sex Determination in Humans - Practice Questions & MCQ

Edited By admin | Updated on Sep 18, 2023 18:34 AM | #NEET

Quick Facts

  • Sex Determination, Sex Determination: XX Female & XY Male Type is considered one of the most asked concept.

  • 24 Questions around this concept.

Solve by difficulty

Which one of the following conditions of the zygotic cell would lead to the birth of a normal human female child?

Concepts Covered - 2

Sex Determination
  • The initial clue about the genetic/chromosomal mechanism of sex determination can be traced back to some of the experiments carried out in insects.
  • The cytological observations made in a number of insects led to the development of the concept of genetic/chromosomal basis of sex-determination.
  • Henking (1891) could trace a specific nuclear structure all through spermatogenesis in a few insects, and it was also observed by him that 50% of the sperm received this structure after spermatogenesis, whereas the other 50% sperm did not receive it.
  • Henking gave a name to this structure as the X body but he could not explain its significance.
  • Further investigations by other scientists led to the conclusion that the ‘X body’ of Henking was in fact a chromosome and that is why it was given the name X-chromosome. 
  • Due to the involvement of the X-chromosome in the determination of sex, it was designated to be the sex chromosome, and the rest of the chromosomes were named as autosomes.
  • When males carry different types of sex chromosomes, such that two different types of gametes are produced, the condition is said to be male heterogamety. For example, a human male has XY as sex-chromosomes. So, two types of sperm are produced, half carrying the X-chromosome and the other half carrying the Y-chromosome.
  • Similarly, when females carry different types of sex chromosomes and produce different types of gametes, it is called female heterogamety.
     
Sex Determination: XX Female & XY Male Type
  • In most insects (e.g., fruit fly) and mammals including humans, the female is homogametic (XX) and male is heterogametic (XY) consisting of two dissimilar chromosomes X and Y.
  • The females produce ova all of one type having X chromosome. 
  • Males produce two types of sperm: -50% with X-chromosome and remaining 50% with Y-chromosome. 
  • Thus, the sex chromosomes in female are homomorphic and those of male are heteromorphic.
  • In fertilisation, an ovum can only carry an X chromosome. It is therefore the sex chromosome found in the sperm – either X or Y – that determines whether a zygote will be female or male, respectively.

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Sex Determination
Sex Determination: XX Female & XY Male Type

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Books

Reference Books

Sex Determination

Biology Textbook for Class XII

Page No. : 85

Line : 10

Sex Determination: XX Female & XY Male Type

Biology Textbook for Class XII

Page No. : 86

Line : 33

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