‘Don’t Say Gay’ bills claim to use science to justify a binary definition of sex based on certain traits. But the biology of sex and gender is not so simple.
DNA of the male-determining Y chromosome has been completely sequenced end-to-end, and it’s just as weird as we expected. Will we finally be able to understand how it works?
The human Y chromosome could disappear over time, putting our species in jeopardy. But some rodents have managed just fine without it – and we now know how.
A one-size-fits-all approach may not be best for treating cardiovascular disease. Taking sex chromosomes into account could make for more effective and equitable care.
When a male bluehead wrasse is removed from the group he dominates, the largest female changes sex, rapidly transforming ovaries into sperm-producing testes. Molecular research shows how.
Athlete Caster Semenya will need to take hormone-lowering agents, or have surgery, if she wishes to continue her career in her chosen events. But the decision to ban her is flawed on many grounds.
Birds have some of the most amazing sex differences of any animal. They can control the sex of offspring, and even produce rare half-male, half-females. And their sex genes and chromosomes are quite different from ours.
Like it or not, evidence now shows that men and women differ genetically far more profoundly that we previously recognised. An analysis from the 2017 winner of the Prime Minister’s Prize for Science.
How new species are created is at the core of the theory of evolution. Mammals may be a good example of how sex chromosome change drove major groups apart.
What produces the differences between men and women? Are they trivial or profound? Are they genetic or environmental, or both? And are men really closer genetically to chimpanzees than to women?
Visiting Professor in Biomedical Ethics, Murdoch Children's Research Institute; Distinguished Visiting Professor in Law, University of Melbourne; Uehiro Chair in Practical Ethics, University of Oxford