A sex-determination system is a biological system that determines the development of sexual

characteristics in an organism. Most organisms that create their offspring using sexual reproduction
have two sexes. Occasionally, there are hermaphrodites in place of one or both sexes. There are also
some species that are only one sex due to parthenogenesis, the act of a female reproducing without
fertilization.

In many species, sex determination is genetic: males and females have different alleles or even different
genes that specify their sexual morphology. In animals this is often accompanied by chromosomal
differences, generally through combinations of XY, ZW, XO, ZO chromosomes, or haplodiploidy. The
sexual differentiation is generally triggered by a main gene (a "sex locus"), with a multitude of other
genes following in a domino effect.

In other cases, sex is determined by environmental variables (such as temperature) or social variables
(e.g. the size of an organism relative to other members of its population).

Some species do not have a fixed sex, and instead change sex based on certain cues. The details of some
sex-determination systems are not yet fully understood.

The nuclei of human cells contain 22 autosomes and 2 sex chromosomes. In females,
the sex chromosomes are the 2 X chromosomes. Males have one X chromosome and
one Y chromosome. The presence of the Y chromosome is decisive for unleashing
the developmental program that leads to a baby boy.

The Y Chromosome
In making sperm by meiosis, the X and Y chromosomes must separate in anaphase
just as homologous autosomes do. This occurs without a problem because, like
homologous autosomes, the X and Y chromosome synapse during prophase of
meiosis I. There is a small region of homology shared by the X and Y chromosome
and synapsis occurs at that region.
This image, courtesy of C. Tease, shows synapsis of the X and Y
chromosomes of a mouse during prophase of meiosis I. Crossing
over occurs in two regions of pairing, called the pseudoautosomal
regions. These are located at opposite ends of the chromosome.

The Pseudoautosomal Regions

The pseudoautosomal regions get their name because any genes

located within them (so far only 9 have been found) are inherited
just like any autosomal genes. Males have two copies of these
genes: one in the pseudoautosomal region of their Y, the other in
the corresponding portion of their X chromosome. So males can
inherit an allele originally present on the X chromosome of their
father and females can inherit an allele originally present on the Y
chromosome of their father.

This diagram shows the structure of the human Y chromosome.

Genes outside the pseudoautosomal regions

Although 95% of the Y chromosome lies between the pseudoautosomal regions, only
27 different functional genes have been found here. Over half of this region is
genetically-barrenheterochromatin. Of the 27 genes found in the euchromatin, some
encode proteins used by all cells. The others encode proteins that appear to function
only in the testes. A key player in this latter group is SRY.

SRY

SRY (for sex-determining region Y) is a gene located on the short (p) arm just outside
the pseudoautosomal region. It is the master switch that triggers the events that
converts the embryo into a male. Without this gene, you get a female instead.

What is the evidence?

 1. On very rare occasions aneuploid humans are born with such karyotypes as
XXY, XXXY, and even XXXXY. Despite their extra X chromosomes, all these
cases are male.
2. This image (courtesy of Robin Lovell-Badge
from Nature 351:117, 1991) shows two mice
with an XX karyotype (and thus they
should be female). However, as you may be
able to see, they have a male phenotype.
This is because they are transgenic for SRY.
Fertilized XX eggs were injected with DNA
carrying the SRYgene.

see Making Transgenic Animals

3. Although these mice have testes, male sex hormones, and normal mating
behavior, they are sterile.
4. Another rarity: XX humans with testicular tissue because a translocation has
placed the SRY gene on one of the X chromosomes
5. Still another rarity that demonstrates the case: women with an XY karyotype
who, despite their Y chromosome, are female because of a destructive mutation
inSRY.

(In 1996, a test based on a molecular probe for SRY was used to ensure that potential
competitors for the women's Olympic events in Atlanta had no SRY gene. But because
of possibilities like that in case 4, this testing is no longer used to screen female
Olympic athletes.)

The X Chromosome
The X chromosome carries approximately 800 genes but few, if any, of these have
anything to do directly with sex. However, the inheritance of these genes follows
special rules. These arise because:

 males have only a single X chromosome

 almost all the genes on the X have no counterpart on the Y; thus
 any gene on the X, even if recessive in females, will be expressed in males.

Genes inherited in this fashion are described as sex-linked or, more precisely, X-
linked.

X-Linkage: An Example
Hemophilia is a blood clotting disorder caused by a mutant gene encoding either

 clotting factor VIII, causing hemophilia A or

 clotting factor IX, causing hemophilia B.

Both genes are located on the X chromosome (shown here in red). With only a single
X chromosome, males who inherit the defective gene (always from their mother) will
be unable to produce the clotting factor and suffer from difficult-to-control episodes
of bleeding. In heterozygous females, the unmutated copy of the gene will provide all
the clotting factor they need. Heterozygous females are called"carriers" because
although they show no symptoms, they pass the gene on to approximately half their
sons, who develop the disease, and half their daughters, who also become carriers.
X Y
X XX XY
Xh XhX XhY

Women rarely suffer from hemophilia because to do so they would have to inherit a
defective gene from their father as well as their mother. Until recently, few
hemophiliacs ever became fathers.

Link to a pedigree of the descendants of Queen Victoria, a carrier for hemophilia B.

Link to a discussion of red-green colorblindness; another example of X-linked inheritance.

X-chromosome Inactivation (XCI)

Human females inherit two copies of every gene on the X chromosome, whereas
males inherit only one (with some exceptions: the 9 pseudoautosomal genes and the
small number of "housekeeping" genes found on the Y). But for the hundreds of other
genes on the X, are males at a disadvantage in the amount of gene product their cells
produce? With some exceptions (see below), the answer is no. This is because females
have only a single active X chromosome in each cell.

During interphase, chromosomes are too tenuous to be stained and seen by light
microscopy. However, a dense, stainable structure, called a Barr body (after its
discoverer) is seen in the interphase nuclei of female mammals. The Barr body is one
of the X chromosomes. Its compact appearance reflects its inactivity. So, the cells of
females have only one functioning copy of most (see below) of the X-linked gene —
the same as males.
X-chromosome inactivation occurs early in embryonic
development. In a given cell, which of a female's X
chromosomes becomes inactivated and converted into
a Barr body is a matter of chance (except in
marsupials like the kangaroo, where it is always the
father's X chromosome that is inactivated). After
inactivation has occurred, all the descendants of that
cell will have the same chromosome inactivated. Thus
X-chromosome inactivation creates clones with
differing effective gene content. An organism whose cells vary in effective gene
content and hence in the expression of a trait, is called a genetic mosaic.

Mechanism of X-chromosome inactivation

Inactivation of an X chromosome requires a gene on that chromosome called XIST.

 XIST is transcribed into a long noncoding RNA.

 XIST RNA accumulates along the X chromosome containing the
active XIST gene and proceeds to inactivate all (or almost all) of the hundreds
of other genes on that chromosome.
 Barr bodies are inactive X chromosomes "painted" with XIST RNA.

The Sequence of Events in Mice

 During the first cell divisions of the female mouse zygote, the XIST locus on the
father's X chromosome is expressed so most of his X-linked genes are silent.
 By the time the blastocyst has formed, the silencing of the paternal X
chromosome still continues in the trophoblast (which will go on to form the
placenta) but
 in the inner cell mass (the ICM, which will go on to form the embryo)
transcription of XIST ceases on the paternal X chromosome allowing its
hundreds of other genes to be expressed. The shut-down of the XIST locus is
done by methylating XIST regulatory sequences. So the pluripotent stem cells of
the ICM express both X chromosomes.
 However, as embryonic development proceeds, X-chromosome inactivation
begins again. But this time it is entirely random. There is no predicting whether
it will be the maternal X or the paternal Xthat is inactivated in a given cell.

Some genes on the X chromosome escape inactivation.

Of the approximately 800 genes on the X chromosome, it turns out that 15–25% of
them continue to be expressed from the Barr body. How these genes escape
inactivation remains to be discovered.

Included among these, are several tumor suppressor genes. This may account for the
fact that cancer is more common in men than in women [Link]. As men have only a
single X chromosome, they have only one copy of each of these tumor suppressor
genes and thus a mutation in one of them would remove the brake on tumor
formation. Women, with the gene expressed by both the active and inactive X
chromosomes, would still have a functioning copy.

X-chromosome Abnormalities
As we saw above, people are sometimes found with abnormal numbers of X
chromosomes. Unlike most cases of aneuploidy, which are lethal, the phenotypic
effects of aneuploidy of the X chromosome are usually not severe. Examples:

 Females with but a single intact X chromosome (usually the one she got from
her mother) in some (thus a genetic mosaic) or all of her cells show a variable
constellation of phenotypic traits calledTurner syndrome. For those girls that
survive to birth, the phenotypic effects are generally mild because each cell has
a single functioning X chromosome like those of XX females. Number of Barr
bodies = zero.
 XXX, XXXX, XXXXX karyotypes: all females with mild phenotypic effects
because in each cell all the extra X chromosomes are inactivated. Number of
Barr bodies = number of X chromosomes minus one.
 Klinefelter's syndrome: people with XXY or XXXY karyotypes are males
(because of their Y chromosome). But again, the phenotypic effects of the extra
X chromosomes are mild because, just as in females, the extra Xs are
inactivated and converted into Barr bodies.

Sex Determination in Other Animals

Although the male fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster, is X-Y, the Y chromosome
does not dictate its maleness but rather the absence of a second X. Furthermore,
instead of females shutting down one X to balance the single X of the males — as we
do — male flies double the output of their single X relative to that of females.

In birds, moths, schistosomes, and some lizards, the male has two of the same
chromosome (designated ZZ), whereas the female has "heterogametic" chromosomes
(designated Z and W). In chickens, a single gene on the Z chromosome
(designated DMRT1), when present in a double dose (ZZ), produces males while the
presence of only one copy of the gene produces females (ZW).

Environmental Sex Determination

In some cold-blooded vertebrates

 some fishes
 many reptiles (e.g. certain snakes, lizards, turtles, and all crocodiles and
alligators)

as well as in some invertebrates (e.g. certain crustaceans),

sex is determined after fertilization — not by sex chromosomes deposited in the egg.

The choice is usually determined by the temperature at which early embryonic

development takes place.

 In some cases (e.g. many turtles and lizards), a higher temperature during
incubation favors the production of females.
 In other cases (e.g., alligators), a higher temperature favors the production of
males.

Even in cases (e.g. some lizards) where there are sex chromosomes, a high
temperature can convert a genotypic male (ZZ) into a female.

Hermaphrodites
Hermaphrodites have both male and female sex organs. Many species of fish are
hermaphroditic.

Some start out as one sex and then, in response to stimuli in their environment, switch
to the other.

Other species have both testes and ovaries at the same time (but seldom fertilize
themselves). (However, populations of C. elegans consist mostly of hermaphrodites
and these only fertilize themselves — Link to a discussion.)

Hermaphroditic fishes have no sex chromosomes.

Is intelligence determined by
genetics?
Like most aspects of human behavior and cognition, intelligence is a complex trait that
is influenced by both genetic and environmental factors.

Intelligence is challenging to study, in part because it can be defined and measured in

different ways. Most definitions of intelligence include the ability to learn from
experiences and adapt to changing environments. Elements of intelligence include the
ability to reason, plan, solve problems, think abstractly, and understand complex ideas.
Many studies rely on a measure of intelligence called the intelligence quotient (IQ).

Researchers have conducted many studies to look for genes that influence intelligence.
Many of these studies have focused on similarities and differences in IQ within families,
particularly looking at adopted children and twins. These studies suggest that genetic
factors underlie about 50 percent of the difference in intelligence among individuals.
Other studies have examined variations across the entire genomes of many people (an
approach called genome-wide association studies or GWAS) to determine whether any
specific areas of the genome are associated with IQ. These studies have not
conclusively identified any genes that underlie differences in intelligence. It is likely that
a large number of genes are involved, each of which makes only a small contribution to
a person’s intelligence.

Intelligence is also strongly influenced by the environment. Factors related to a child’s

home environment and parenting, education and availability of learning resources, and
nutrition, among others, all contribute to intelligence. A person’s environment and genes
influence each other, and it can be challenging to tease apart the effects of the
environment from those of genetics. For example, if a child’s IQ is similar to that of his
or her parents, is that similarity due to genetic factors passed down from parent to child,
to shared environmental factors, or (most likely) to a combination of both? It is clear that
both environmental and genetic factors play a part in determining intelligence.

Scientific journal articles for further reading

Deary IJ. Intelligence. Curr Biol. 2013 Aug 19;23(16):R673-6. doi:
10.1016/j.cub.2013.07.021. PubMed:23968918. Free full-text available from the
publisher:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960982213008440
Deary IJ, Johnson W, Houlihan LM. Genetic foundations of human intelligence. Hum
Genet. 2009 Jul;126(1):215-32. doi: 10.1007/s00439-009-0655-4. Epub 2009 Mar 18.
Review. PubMed: 19294424.

Plomin R, Deary IJ. Genetics and intelligence differences: five special findings. Mol
Psychiatry. 2015 Feb;20(1):98-108. doi: 10.1038/mp.2014.105. Epub 2014 Sep 16.
Review. PubMed: 25224258. Free full-text available from PubMed
Central: PMC4270739.

Sternberg RJ. Intelligence. Dialogues Clin Neurosci. 2012 Mar;14(1):19-27. Review.

PubMed: 22577301. Free full-text available from PubMed Central: PMC3341646

To find out more about the influence of genetics on intelligence:

This news release from the journal Nature explains why it is so difficult to identify genes
associated with IQ: “'Smart genes' prove elusive” (September 8, 2014)

The Tech Museum of Innovation at Stanford University provides a Q&A about the
influence of genes and environment on IQ.

The Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory offers

Sexual differentiation is the process of development of the differences between males

and females from an undifferentiated zygote. As male and female individuals develop
from zygotes into fetuses, into infants, children, adolescents, and eventually into
adults, sex and gender differences at many levels develop: genes, chromosomes,
gonads, hormones, anatomy, and psyche.

Sex differences range greatly and include physiologically differentiating. Sex-

dichotomous differences are developments which are wholly characteristic of one sex
only. Examples of sex-dichotomous differences include aspects of the sex-specific
genital organs such as ovaries, a uterus or a phallic urethra. In contrast, sex-dimorphic
differences are matters of degree (e.g., size of phallus). Some of these (e.g., stature,
behaviors) are mainly statistical, with much overlap between male and female
populations.

Nevertheless, even the sex-dichotomous differences are not absolute in the human
population, and there are individuals who are exceptions (e.g., XY males with a
uterus; undeveloped testes), or phenotypical females with an XY karyotype
(undeveloped reproductive organs), or who exhibit biological and/or behavioral
characteristics of both sexes.

Sex differences may be induced by specific genes, by hormones, by anatomy, or by

social learning. Some of the differences are entirely physical (e.g., presence of a
uterus) and some differences are just as obviously purely a matter of social learning
and custom (e.g., relative hair length). Many differences, though, such as gender
identity, appear to be influenced by both biological and social factors ("nature" and
"nurture").

The early stages of human differentiation appear to be quite similar to the same
biological processes in other mammals and the interaction of genes, hormones and
body structures is fairly well understood. In the first weeks of life, a fetus has no
anatomic or hormonal sex, and only a karyotype distinguishes male from female.
Specific genes induce gonadal differences, which produce hormonal differences,
which cause anatomic differences, leading to psychological and behavioral
differences, some of which are innate and some induced by the social environment.