A tiny scrap of genetic information determines our sex; it also consigns many of us to a life of disease, directs or disrupts the everyday working of our bodies, and forces women to live as genetic chimeras. The culprit - so necessary and yet the source of such upheaval - is the X chromosome, and this is its story. An enlightening and entertaining tour of the cultural and natural history of this intriguing member of the genome, "The X in Sex" traces the journey toward our current understanding of the nature of X. From its chance discovery in the...Read more
A tiny scrap of genetic information determines our sex; it also consigns many of us to a life of disease, directs or disrupts the everyday working of our bodies, and forces women to live as genetic chimeras. The culprit - so necessary and yet the source of such upheaval - is the X chromosome, and this is its story. An enlightening and entertaining tour of the cultural and natural history of this intriguing member of the genome, "The X in Sex" traces the journey toward our current understanding of the nature of X. From its chance discovery in the 19th century to the promise and implications of ongoing research, David Bainbridge show how the X evolved and where it and its counterpart Y are going, how it helps assign developing human babies their sex - and maybe even their sexuality - and how it affects our lives in infinitely complex and subtle ways. X offers cures for disease, challenges our cultural, ethical and scientific assumptions about maleness and femaleness, and has even reshaped our views of human evolution and human nature.
- ISBN10 0674010280
- ISBN13 9780674010284
- Publish Date 31 March 2003
- Publish Status Active
- Out of Print 9 July 2008
- Publish Country US
- Imprint Harvard University Press
- Format Hardcover
- Pages 224
- Language English