Serious question about female genetics?

Question

An egg cell has an X chromosome. If a sperm cell that has another X Chromosome fertilizes the egg, a female is born. But, if the sperm has a Y chromosome, a male is born. So does that make the Y chromosome dominant? Can it be said then in other words, that males are the dominant part of the species genetically?

Yes, this is coming from a man.

But I'm not asking this question to be a sexist pig.

And to add to your thoughts, because women are made of XX, and men are made of XY, they actually have more genetic material - see the shapes?

Answer 1

It is not really a matter of dominance... we are talking about an entire chromosome, not just one allele. Anyway, it is possible that there are alleles on the Y chromosome which have dominance over analogous genes on the X chromosome. Without the Y chromosome the baby would not be XX, so it's not that the Y suppresses or is dominant over the X chromosome, it is the the first X is a given, and then the second factor is needed... but does not compete.

I think it is more accurate to say that the female is the default sex, unless critical factors are turned on by genes on the Y chromosome. Because, you could have an XY child and it is indistinguishable from a girl because certain genes on the Y chromosome either didn't turn on at the right time, or the target cells which those genes would affect did not do their job properly.

Answer 2

Don't think that either is superior however, each is superior at specific things, obviously.

But here is some fodder for thought. Interesting Genetic Fact:

The female population currently outweighs the male population by 1% or so making the ratio 51% to 49% roughly. However, the male population is predicted to catch up and perhaps surpass the female population only slightly with modern medicine. Why? Because the sex chromosomes, XX for woman and XY for men, carry different genes. The X chromosomes carry large amounts of DNA information while the Y chromosome which is shorter than the X chromosome, only carries a few bits of genetic information such as the gene for becoming male. Essentially, we all start out female! It is the presence of the testis gene, called SRY, that determines the male gender.

Because the X chromosome carries large amounts of genetic information while the Y does not, males are more likely to suffer from disease and abnormalities than women. In genetics, two genes come together to determine a trait. One or both can be dominant or recessive. Disease genes are recessive as are abnormalities but if a male receives a recessive gene for a disease or abnormality, he is likely to express that gene given the lack of extra DNA information from the Y chromosome. Therefore, more male die in infancy than females. Does this make females genetically superior? Modern medicine will help combat early deaths from a genetic standpoint, helping even out the population. Let's not forget that females also develop faster overall, emotionally, physically, and intellectually.

Answer 3

It can be said that the offspring's sex depends on whether an X sperm or an Y sperm that fertilizes the egg. But no, that does not mean that males are dominant par tof the species. And the Y chromosome is shorter that the X chromosome. Because of this, a lot of X-linked diseases, (diseases that are located on the X chromosome), can not be covered up with the other X chromosome in males because males only have once X chromosome. So genetically, in this aspect, females are more advantageous than males.

Answer 4

You could just as easily ask ... A man has an x and a y chromosome, but can't do anything whatsoever with either of them unless a woman provides an x chromosome to go with them. Does that make the woman dominant? Obviously its a 50-50 situation. When two things are both absolutely essential to a process, it is meaningless to ask which is more important or which is "dominant". Which is more important to health, a heart or a brain?

Answer 5

The presence of the Y chromosome causes the embryo to produce hormones and protein that differentiate the embryo as a male. That's its main function.

As you point out the Y chromosome is smaller. Because it is smaller, it contains fewer genes. Men pick up a number of recessive traits from their mothers. Most of them are harmless. There are exceptions however.

A woman has two X chromosomes: one from her mother and one from her father. Thus, if there are any defects in the one of the X chromosomes, they don't generally cause problems in girls/women. That's because they have a second X chromosome as a back up.

A man has just one X chromosome. If there's something wrong with it, it can cause the boy/man some problem. This class of hereditary problem is called "X-linked genetic disorders".

Answer 6

a "y" cell is dominant because it basically determines gender of the child. (although the woman does contribute an "x" no matter what and that is part of determining gender)

but in another respect it isn't dominant... if a sex-linked defect is carried on one x chromosome then the other x usually covers up that defect, but since men have a y instead of the other x, it can't compensate for whatever might be wrong with the x chromosome. (fragile "x", hemophilia, color blindness etc.)

but in terms of determining gender, yes it's the sperm which determines male or female.

Answer 7

Well, we all start out as female in utero. So, I suppose you could make the argument that the y chromosome is dominant since it overrides the second x chromosome during the development of the fetus.

Of course, you could also make an equally strong argument that the y chromosome is just a defective x chromosome which mutated.

Answer 8

Sex chromosomes do not have dominant nor recessive features. Anyhow, without an X chromosome the offspring would not be viable. Also, some say that the Y chromosome is really the X chromosome missing a piece.

Answer 9

The Y chromosome is not dominant, there's 50%, 50% chance making a female or male human being. Now you can also get someone who is XXX or XXY, now you wouldn't want that too happen, which is an anomalie, the first one is down syndrome and the second one is turner syndrome. So the sperm does determine the sex of the baby, however the Y chromosome is not dominant.

Answer 10

You should do some reading about people who have three chromosomes such as XXY individuals. I don't think Y is dominant in the traditional sense because I believe if that was the case, then an XXY person would have the same phenotype as an XY individual, but there are a lot of differences.