Our identity. Transgenderism is unique to humans. Yet research has turned up lots of variety within the sexual development and behavior of animals. Like people, animals exhibit behaviors typical of males and females. Still, many social and other behaviors in animals do not fit neatly into those categories, notes Paul Vasey.
He works at the University of Lethbridge in Alberta, Canada. As a comparative psychologist, he studies how behaviors in humans and animals differ or appear the same. Next week: Identifying as a different gender. A chromosome is generally X-shaped in animals and plants.
Some segments of DNA in a chromosome are genes. Other segments of DNA in a chromosome are landing pads for proteins. The function of other segments of DNA in chromosomes is still not fully understood by scientists. The control is essential to scientific experiments. It shows that any new effect is likely due only to the part of the test that a researcher has altered.
For example, if scientists were testing different types of fertilizer in a garden, they would want one section of it to remain unfertilized, as the control. Its area would show how plants in this garden grow under normal conditions. And that give scientists something against which they can compare their experimental data. For humans, this term is usually applied after the eighth week of development. Behavior that is compatible with cultural expectations is referred to as being the norm.
Behaviors that are incompatible with these expectations are described as non-conforming. Hormones control many important body activities, such as growth. Hormones act by triggering or regulating chemical reactions in the body. These specialized cells transmit information to other neurons in the form of electrical signals.
Scientists and mental-health professionals who work in this field are known as psychologists. There are a number of indicators of biological sex, including sex chromosomes, gonads, internal reproductive organs, and external genitalia. In humans, sex chromosomes can be either X or Y. People get one chromosome from each parent. Two X chromosomes will make the offspring female like her mom.
An X and Y will make the child male, like his dad. This organ also is the primary site that makes testosterone, the primary male sex hormone. It gets its name from a combination of testis the primary organ that makes it in males and sterol, a term for some hormones.
High concentrations of this hormone contribute to the greater size, musculature and aggressiveness typical of the males in many species including humans. By Amanda Leigh Mascarelli July 31, at am. Explainer: Sometimes the body mixes up male and female.
Explainer: Male-female plasticity in animals. Brain Concussion patients should avoid screen time for first two days By Kathiann Kowalski November 10, Parisi, M.
A survey of ovary-, testis-, and some-biased gene expression in Drosophila melanogaster adults. Genome Biology 5 , R40 doi Pieau, C. Temperature sensitivity of sexual differentiation of gonads in the European pond turtle. Journal of Experimental Zoology , 86—93 Saccone, G.
Sex determination in flies, fruit flies and butterflies. Genetica , 15—23 Smith, C. Sex determination: Insights from the chicken. Bioessays 26 , — Traut, W. Sex chromosomes and sex determination in Lepidoptera. Sexual Development 1 , — doi: Chromosome Mapping: Idiograms. Human Chromosome Translocations and Cancer.
Karyotyping for Chromosomal Abnormalities. Prenatal Screen Detects Fetal Abnormalities. Synteny: Inferring Ancestral Genomes. Telomeres of Human Chromosomes. Chromosomal Abnormalities: Aneuploidies. Chromosome Abnormalities and Cancer Cytogenetics. Copy Number Variation and Human Disease. Genetic Recombination. Human Chromosome Number. Trisomy 21 Causes Down Syndrome.
X Chromosome: X Inactivation. Chromosome Theory and the Castle and Morgan Debate. Developing the Chromosome Theory. Meiosis, Genetic Recombination, and Sexual Reproduction. Mitosis and Cell Division.
Genetic Mechanisms of Sex Determination. Sex Chromosomes and Sex Determination. Sex Chromosomes in Mammals: X Inactivation. Sex Determination in Honeybees. Citation: Hake, L. Nature Education 1 1 In B. At least in the case of reptiles, Aristotle was on to something. What about in other animals? Aa Aa Aa. Sex Chromosomes. Chromosomal Mechanisms of Sex Determination in Insects. Sex Determination in Drosophila.
Sex Determination in Mammals. Figure 2. Figure Detail. Hybridization of DMRT1 cosmid to a female chicken metaphase spread. DAPI banding of the same metaphase spread, converted into G-like bands. Nature Genetics 21, Sex Determination and Environment.
References and Recommended Reading Cline, T. Annual Review of Genetics 30 , — Crews, D. Environmental Health Perspectives , , 73—77 Gilbert, S.
Journal of Experimental Zoology , 86—93 Saccone, G. Genetica , 15—23 Smith, C. Bioessays 26 , — Traut, W. Article History Close. Share Cancel. Revoke Cancel. Keywords Keywords for this Article.
Save Cancel. Flag Inappropriate The Content is: Objectionable. Flag Content Cancel. Email your Friend. Submit Cancel. In fact, in women, who have two X chromosomes, one X chromosome in each cell is packaged into a dormant state called a Barr body. Cool fact: if you stumble upon a male calico cat, it is almost certainly XXY.
Featured image from Wikimedia Commons. Chromosomes determine if you are male or female, not your state of mind.
Not surgery, and not hormones. We live and love and learn and contribute and age like everyone else. How about trying to think of us as just not chromsomally like you happen to be?
Ha here we go. Besides your religious fundamentalist ideas and bigotry. What other reason have you got to reject these ideas? I am an XY female. Wake up world! Humans are not chromosomally nor genetically binary! Did you even read the article? Honestly, how are people this ignorant. Yet you ignore everything and race to the comments with the knowledge from your bible study group. On strictly medical terms. As a surgeon, i apologize if i seem slightly absorbed, but i have to take a firm stance on this topic.
I see the point here, if you have a little girl. Both seem pretty understandable. Looking at the first and third comentors it would appear they are experiencing the back fire effect.
Not really helpful or insightful. The point was to get people thinking about gender and how we as humans perceive it. It was also not mentioned that same sex rape happens. Both the article and the surgeon miss 2 conditions that make the gender based on DNA not so simple. So XX is a girl and XY is a boy. Neat, easy, no thought. Not so neat and simple right. Is check their pants they say.
Ah that can be a problem too. Many who have XXY do not hconditionnizable genitals. So what to do? B the second condition chimerism is when one person hold DNA of more than one more individual. So that hand may not be XX like the rest of you. The real reason this is all being discussed is that gender matters to society.
If male amd female were true equals then it would not matter if you were male, female, or inbetween. We have constructed roles and expectations based upon our perceived gender. It IS about human beings. If you have never been discriminated against because of the way you look or act you will never unstand what it is like. Treating people a certain way just because of their genetics is not a good idea, just ask a Jew. What is not understood is feared; what is feared becomes hated.
Thus what we hate we destroy. I could not stop laughing while reading your reply Lauren. As the facts stand this is all there is XX and XY. Everything else is physical or mentally retardation, or people in serious need of professional counselling. Which is less than. Which sums everything both of you have said.
Nice and tidy. Truth is if gender was fluid, then so is race, which then means both are only a state of mind. Which in that case I identify as a polka dotted apache helicopter, and you should respect that. Then I should also be able to say I identify as a woman to be able to apply for and get a small business administration loan for Women-owned businesses, from the government which is specifically an advantage only for women. From the SBA. Funny part is that will never happen because people only want equal rights as long as it is in their favor.
Fun world we live in. You just said all non-binary individuals have mental retardation. I hope you share your opinion with everyone you can.
Race is genetically non-existent though. Two identical-looking penguins might have more genetic variation between them than a black and white persons. Comparing race to gender is a waste of time from a scientific standpoint. Just tossing my two cents to the conversation. But, do you actually WANT to identify as a polka dot helicopter? People in this forum back then would have made awefull comments and thought these things abhorrent to change.
But change them society did, and all based on gender politics. Things change, that is human nature. The naysayers just need to get on with their own lives without interfering in others, no-one is attacking them or telling them they are wrong, even though there may be ways in which they themselves are morally or legally repugnant.
Unfortunately, Jake, you are wrong in this case. And I am scientific proof thereof. I am — to classify myself according to your binary system — a classical male in appearance. Although even there I already display differences from the strict biological binary system: eg. And the penis and testes in my case are devoid of their normal function. Testes have never been fully developed. My body does not produce any sperm cell and when comparing the testes to that of a normal male they are formed at a fraction of the normal size.
Contrary to that underdevelopment sits a hormonal function in my body that is far beyond the normal boundaries. My FSH production is a whopping 40 times higher than that of a normal human. My testosterone levels are nearly non existent making the estradiol the dominant function of the two, which you typically associate with female characteristics.
However, contrary to normal scientific understanding — where the link between testosterone levels determines the outward visible hairgrowth for example is the polar opposite of what you would find. Given my extremely low testosterone I should be displaying minimal hairgrowth, yet my reality was the opposite: head to toe covered in hair.
None of this leads me to say that I believe gender is fluid. The totality of all the things that are biologically divergent in my case have led to differences that really are not fun to experience. My life has always felt like a rollercoaster never knowing which way to go. Intercourse experienced from the male point of view has for me always been an experience that ends in pain.
As I mentioned, the breast development has for me always been a point of embarrassement because no matter how rigorously I exercised or watched my diet, they were always there. Socially, I was raised as a man because of how the appearance of a penis and testes.
I can assure you, three fertility experts, one of which being Prof. Ombelet who is an world leading authority in fertility confirmed that they had never seen results like mine. Currently, and this is after long discussions with medical staff, I am undergoing hormone treatment whereby I am now being administered female hormones which create a more clear dominance of estradiol in my body.
It has had a positive effect for me. That choice was not made because of some fetish pike dream. It was a choice based on the experience of the male characteristics that led to discomfort. One thing I can admit that is being achieved is that the physical discomfort I used to experience as male has decreased which obviously has had a positive effect on how I feel.
I cannot even begin to describe the relief I have felt at being more in harmony with my own body. I am quite pleased with how medical staff as well are dealing with the situation. And perhaps that is a point that is still missing in this article: We are an evolving species. In evolution there is always divergence. It is in fact necessary in order to evolve. The science, even though far better than even a few decades ago, has not reached the point where we fully understand how the human body functions at most detailed level.
Bottom line is that people do not change who they are just by thinking or feeling sth. I can wake up tomorrow felling I am a Bear, dressing as a bear, hibernating as a bear but this DOES NOT make me a bear, I respect the feeling and freedom of a bear-man to be who he wants to be, but it is a disease and I am not obligated to call him Mr.
BEAR and pretend I am blind. This, exactly. If you had a glove factory, would you adjust things to produce 4 or 6 finger gloves because a tiny percentage of the population either is missing a finger or has an extra one? Of course not. Certainly, you might take them into consideration, and prompts to you for doing so, but changing the entire program of your factory to adjust to that minority would lead you to bankruptcy because the vast majority of people have 5 fingers. Now imagine that the 5th finger is, you guessed it, genitals.
Hey Carlos, I think your idea that we should be helping individuals to adapt to society is a great starting point, but I think your perspective on gender dysphoria is, willfully or otherwise, disrespectful.
Sex and gender are two different things. Sex — biological sex — is what this article is about. Gender is a set of societal expectations and — most importantly — self understanding. Studies show that personal gender identity is typically settled upon between years of age, a year or two after the child recognizes a difference between genders, and does not usually change.
This is false equivalence. Gender dysphoria is not a trend, and not just a feeling. Sure, your glove factory will most likely continue to produce 5 fingered gloves because, it is a factory, and making money is the most important thing.
Systems that aim to make money tend to target the largest possible crowd — though a smart company or startup that identified this niche in the market might start selling 4 finger gloves at a smaller scale to capitalize on that factory as well. But who cares what a factory would do? Our government, and our personal lives, are not run like a factory would be. Our government should still pass laws saying that 4-fingered people are allowed to be in the millitary, despite perhaps having slightly worse gun-handling.
I feel like I should finish this by letting you know — the suicide rates of the trans community are largely attributed to the way they are treated.
You seem like a nice enough guy. I just want you to really think twice about your preconceptions about this topic. First off there is a gene typically found in Y chromosomes that stimulates the development of phenotypically what is physically visible male sex characteristics. However this is not always the case, so some people can have XX or XY and not be female or male, respectively. Sadly, your example misrepresents the trans experience. Not technical or scientific, I am a woman of 59, three children.
I am xy, I have an introverted womb. Too much facial hair, normal puberty development etc. I do have family members of both sexes who identify as opposite, both male and female. So there is a lot more to it than than just xy…… I summise that other genes switch the sry gene on…. Mine are just broken.
There exists a condition referred to as retroverted womb, which is exclusively associated with fully XX chromosome females. It is not anything remarkable, it does not impede child birth, and it does not suggest that there are multiple genders! Homo sapiens is sexually dimorphic. We have XX females and XY males. There are sometimes chromosomal abnormalities. Surgeon Will describes this above. These are chromosomal defects, NOT evidence of anything other than sexual dimorphism.
If you gave birth to three children, you are a woman. End of story. Who told you that you are XY? They are wrong. Thank you for trying to help people to understand, I understand what you are saying. Sadly, most people absorb societal rhetoric typically spouted from unqualified individuals. Will, that you have a medical degree and are clearly against expanding your knowledge and learning continuation is terrifying. Does education for surgeons include remedial reading classes?
Maybe it should have years ago when he studied for it? You of all people should know that genes are far more complex than what you see for sex organs. I also glean that you are probably religious, as you have completely bypassed hermaphrodites, you alluded to it but then called it a defect. The reason is because that would literally destroy your whole view on sexual orientation.
As a medical professional, you should be ashamed of yourself for not being more open to the science you literally depend on daily. Hey Will, sadly your a surgeon not a genealogist. It seems that you opinion contradicts the stance of hundreds if not thousands of more qualified individuals. Scientists that have actually performed peer-reviewed research on the subject. For a medical practitioner, you seem out-of-touch with known genetic findings.
So then you would know that chromosomes can produce more than XY or XX. And that you are not simply born either male or female you can be born or hermaphrodite you can be born a female who with an XY chromosome and you can be born a male with a degenerating y chromosome.
Chromosomes alone do not make you female or male. The platypus has 10 sex chromosomes and could be missing leak between an XY and a ZW? Did you read that part? This in the medical profession is what we call the God complex. When are you guys going to learn that not everybody not every human being as evolution is proved is going to be the same in fact evolution is going to continue you think it stops with us you think that humans are the great creation?
A couple different thoughts here, and I hope I can keep them coherent. All of the discussion of sex determination is interesting. I understand that certain species of plants and animals use different systems to determine biological sex.
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