sex chromosome

What underlies the uneven burden of autoimmunity between the sexes has remained a mystery. Now, scientists found clues by turning to a key player on the X chromosome.

For two decades, scientists struggled to fully sequence the Y chromosome. Finally, researchers have mapped its full length thanks to recent advances in sequencing technology.

A study finds that XIST, the gene that shuts down one X chromosome in people who have two, is linked to cancer in males. 

An analysis of human data from the UK biobank also finds an association between Y chromosome loss and heart disease in men.

A large, long-term study across the US and Sweden finds potential correlations between specific pollutants and the proportions of male and female babies born.

Wing development in females is environmentally controlled, but in males, an insertion on the sex chromosome appears to dictate whether the insects grow wings, according to a study.

About one-quarter of the hundreds of genes on the inactivated X chromosome in XX cells manage to escape that silencing, at least some of the time.

When X-linked genes evade silencing on the “inactive” chromosome in XX cells, some protect women from diseases such as cancer, but others seem to promote conditions such as autoimmunity.

Working with bacteriophages and nematodes, the University of California, Berkeley, molecular biologist uncovered a role for genetic switches in early development.

A genomic analysis from 23andMe suggests that people inherit two copies of a chromosome from only one parent nearly twice as often as researchers had realized.

Scientists found they could sort mouse sperm prior to IVF by treating semen with a drug that selectively slows down X-bearing cells.

The molecular processes that lead males to be more susceptible to the disease are only beginning to come to light.

Alterations in epigenetic markers on the X chromosome may be why males outnumber females among murine offspring bred through in vitro fertilization.

Sex assignment in bearded dragons can flip from one based on chromosomes to one driven by temperature, researchers report.

Mammalian Y chromosome genes with important functions are transferred to autosomal chromosomes more often than previously thought, a study shows.

Associate Professor, Department of Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley. Age: 39

In 2014, new research findings and guidelines brought increased attention to biological differences between males and females.

A new study reveals an association between smoking and rates of Y chromosome loss in blood cells, which may explain elevated cancer risk among male smokers.

The oviducts of pigs exhibit different gene expression profiles depending on their exposure to sperm with either an X or a Y chromosome, a study shows.