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Definition 2024

Y_chromosome

Y chromosome

See also: Y-chromosome

English

Alternative forms

Noun

Y chromosome ‎(plural Y chromosomes)

  1. (genetics) A mammalian sex chromosome, occurring only in male cells. Cells of females have a pair of X chromosomes while cells of males have an X and a Y.

Related terms

Translations

References

  1. ↑ David Bainbridge, The X in Sex: How the X Chromosome Controls Our Lives, pages 65-66, ISBN 0674016211.

Etymology

Named by Nettie Stevens in 1905 using the next letter in sequence following the naming by Hermann Henking in 1890 of the X chromosome. The brief resemblance in the appearance of the X and Y chromosomes to the letters "X" and "Y" respectively during cell division is entirely coincidental.[1]

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