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Y Heterochromatin and XX Males

Abstract

IN man the role of the Y chromosome in sex determination is unquestionable1,2. To explain the development of gonadal tissues with normal and abnormal sex-chromosome constitutions, the presence of male and female determining factors in the X and Y chromosomes (with positive and negative effects) has been postulated3. The regulation of sexual differentiation in early embryonic life has been attributed to the interaction between heterochromatins of the heterochromatic X and Y chromosomes4,5, and the masculinizing activity of the Y chromosome has been considered to result from a special heterochromatic effect of this chromosome on gonadal growth6. Evidence has been presented to show that in man the male-determining factors are located in the short arm of the Y chromosome7.

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GEORGE, K., POLANI, P. Y Heterochromatin and XX Males. Nature 228, 1215–1216 (1970). https://doi.org/10.1038/2281215b0

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