Sex Itself

Sex Itself PDF Author: Sarah S. Richardson
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 022608471X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 320

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Book Description
Human genomes are 99.9 percent identical—with one prominent exception. Instead of a matching pair of X chromosomes, men carry a single X, coupled with a tiny chromosome called the Y. Tracking the emergence of a new and distinctive way of thinking about sex represented by the unalterable, simple, and visually compelling binary of the X and Y chromosomes, Sex Itself examines the interaction between cultural gender norms and genetic theories of sex from the beginning of the twentieth century to the present, postgenomic age. Using methods from history, philosophy, and gender studies of science, Sarah S. Richardson uncovers how gender has helped to shape the research practices, questions asked, theories and models, and descriptive language used in sex chromosome research. From the earliest theories of chromosomal sex determination, to the mid-century hypothesis of the aggressive XYY supermale, to the debate about Y chromosome degeneration, to the recent claim that male and female genomes are more different than those of humans and chimpanzees, Richardson shows how cultural gender conceptions influence the genetic science of sex. Richardson shows how sexual science of the past continues to resonate, in ways both subtle and explicit, in contemporary research on the genetics of sex and gender. With the completion of the Human Genome Project, genes and chromosomes are moving to the center of the biology of sex. Sex Itself offers a compelling argument for the importance of ongoing critical dialogue on how cultural conceptions of gender operate within the science of sex.

Sex Itself

Sex Itself PDF Author: Sarah S. Richardson
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 022608471X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 320

Get Book

Book Description
Human genomes are 99.9 percent identical—with one prominent exception. Instead of a matching pair of X chromosomes, men carry a single X, coupled with a tiny chromosome called the Y. Tracking the emergence of a new and distinctive way of thinking about sex represented by the unalterable, simple, and visually compelling binary of the X and Y chromosomes, Sex Itself examines the interaction between cultural gender norms and genetic theories of sex from the beginning of the twentieth century to the present, postgenomic age. Using methods from history, philosophy, and gender studies of science, Sarah S. Richardson uncovers how gender has helped to shape the research practices, questions asked, theories and models, and descriptive language used in sex chromosome research. From the earliest theories of chromosomal sex determination, to the mid-century hypothesis of the aggressive XYY supermale, to the debate about Y chromosome degeneration, to the recent claim that male and female genomes are more different than those of humans and chimpanzees, Richardson shows how cultural gender conceptions influence the genetic science of sex. Richardson shows how sexual science of the past continues to resonate, in ways both subtle and explicit, in contemporary research on the genetics of sex and gender. With the completion of the Human Genome Project, genes and chromosomes are moving to the center of the biology of sex. Sex Itself offers a compelling argument for the importance of ongoing critical dialogue on how cultural conceptions of gender operate within the science of sex.

Heredity and Sex

Heredity and Sex PDF Author: Thomas Hunt Morgan
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Heredity
Languages : en
Pages : 304

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Sex Chromosomes and Sex-Linked Genes

Sex Chromosomes and Sex-Linked Genes PDF Author: Susumu Ohno
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 3642881785
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 201

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Book Description
Natural selection operates among individual organisms which differ in their genetic constitution. The degree of hereditary variability within a species is greatly enhanced by cross-fertilization. Indeed, the mechanism of sexual reproduction occurred very early in evolution, for it is seen today even in bacteria. In Escherichia coli, fertilization occurs by passage of the single chromosome from the male into the female bacterium (LEDERBERG, 1959). In multicellular organisms, the separation of germ from soma, and the production of haploid gametes became mandatory. The gametes were of two types. One, extremely mobile, was designed to seek out and penetrate the other, which loaded with nutrients, received the mobile gamete and intiated the development of a new individual. The foundation for true bisexuality was thus laid. In the primitive state of bisexuality, whether an individual is to be a sperm-producing male or an egg-producing female appears to be decided rather haphazardly. In the worm, Banelia viridis, the minute males are parasites in the female. Larvae that become attached to the proboscis of an adult female become males, while unattached larvae sink to the bottom and become females (BALTZER, 1935). The more sophisticated state of bisexuality was initiated by setting aside a particular pair of chromosomes for specialization and making either the male or the female a heterogametic sex. Sex chromosomes as we know them were thus born.

Sex-linked Inheritance in Drosophila

Sex-linked Inheritance in Drosophila PDF Author: Thomas Hunt Morgan
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Drosophila
Languages : en
Pages : 100

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Book Description


The Genetic and the Operative Evidence Relating to Secondary Sexual Characters

The Genetic and the Operative Evidence Relating to Secondary Sexual Characters PDF Author: Thomas Hunt Morgan
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 138

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Book Description


The Genetic and the Operative Evidence Relating to Secondary Sexual Characters

The Genetic and the Operative Evidence Relating to Secondary Sexual Characters PDF Author: Thomas Hunt Morgan
Publisher:
ISBN: 3752445858
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 126

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Book Description
Reproduction of the original: The Genetic and the operative evidence relating to secondary sexual characters by Thomas Hunt Morgan

Sex Chromosomes and Sex-linked Genes

Sex Chromosomes and Sex-linked Genes PDF Author: Susumu Ohno
Publisher: Springer-Verlag
ISBN: 3662351137
Category : Medical
Languages : de
Pages : 201

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Book Description


Sex-linked inheritance in Drosophila

Sex-linked inheritance in Drosophila PDF Author: Thomas Hunt Morgan
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 114

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Book Description


The Genetics of Sexuality in Animals

The Genetics of Sexuality in Animals PDF Author: F. A. E. Crew
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1107502500
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 201

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Book Description
Originally published in 1927, this book examines how genetic information is revealed through the physiology, specifically the biological sex, of an animal. Crew explains the genetic mechanism of sex determination, hermaphroditism, sex-reversal and the ways in which an animal population maintains an appropriate male to female ratio.

Heredity under the Microscope

Heredity under the Microscope PDF Author: Soraya de Chadarevian
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 022668511X
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 318

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Book Description
By focusing on chromosomes, Heredity under the Microscope offers a new history of postwar human genetics. Today chromosomes are understood as macromolecular assemblies and are analyzed with a variety of molecular techniques. Yet for much of the twentieth century, researchers studied chromosomes by looking through a microscope. Unlike any other technique, chromosome analysis offered a direct glimpse of the complete human genome, opening up seemingly endless possibilities for observation and intervention. Critics, however, countered that visual evidence was not enough and pointed to the need to understand the molecular mechanisms. Telling this history in full for the first time, Soraya de Chadarevian argues that the often bewildering variety of observations made under the microscope were central to the study of human genetics. Making space for microscope-based practices alongside molecular approaches, de Chadarevian analyzes the close connections between genetics and an array of scientific, medical, ethical, legal, and policy concerns in the atomic age. By exploring the visual evidence provided by chromosome research in the context of postwar biology and medicine, Heredity under the Microscope sheds new light on the cultural history of the human genome.