Biology news #4 - Assignment Example

“Researchers See New Importance in Y Chromosome” Source: The New York Times Define Y chromosome is the sex chromosome in humans that determines the male characteristics from the beginning of fetal life and reverses the default state of developing into a female. Both males and females have 23 chromosomes, however females have two X chromosomes and males have an X and a Y chromosome. Scientists have carried out various researches to find out the genes carried by Y chromosome so that the difference between the molecular biology of males and females can be elaborated.

Scientists have also studied the evolutionary origin of the Y chromosome. AnalyzeScientists have put forward that it is important to understand the genes on the Y chromosome as they decide the difference in which manner the cells in males and females read the information expressed by their respective genomes. Y chromosome has shown to shed genes over the course of time as it also depicts a shortening in its length. But analysis of the chromosome in 2012 showed that Y chromosome stabilized itself and loss of genes was stopped for the last 25 million years.

Although the genetic make-up of Y chromosome is very difficult to decode, but scientists have found a solution to find the genes on Y chromosome by comparing the DNA to the X chromosome. An important gene on Y chromosome is SRY that determines the male gender and many others are associated with sperm production. Twelve genes on Y chromosome are unique in their characteristic as they are switched on in various cells of the body other than testis. These genes control the expression of various other genes and also the state of genome in other cells.

Females have slightly different set of genes which are involved in high regulatory actions. ResolveAre the regulatory genes present on Y chromosome involved in only gender related regulatory functions but also control other body functions?How are the genes on the Y chromosome and X chromosome different from each other and what factors control the expression of these genes in each gender?If a defect occurs in the sex chromosome related genes, would it only affect the reproductive system of the individual but also other important body systems?

EvaluateThe article brings forward a very significant aspect of the Y chromosome and the research carried out to understand the different genes on Y chromosomes is a step forward in understanding the molecular biology of the genders. However, I think that more research should be carried out to evaluate the ability of Y chromosome to regulate the sex-specific functions in males and exactly how they differ from the X chromosome. I think that understanding the Y chromosome related genes would also aid the scientists in improving their knowledge regarding the X-linked disease patterns and associations with Y chromosome.

SourceWade, Nicholas. “Researchers see new importance in Y chromosome”. New York Times. 23 Apr. 2014. Web. 24 Apr 2014.