Wednesday, April 18, 2007

Brain genes on the X-chromosome

I've read that researchers had found that many genes for intelligence are actually on the X-chromosome, and since males only have one copy of that chromosome, any mutations which might be recessive in girls are expressed in boys. This could be the reason behind the wider variance in intelligence in males compared to females -- supposedly males can be really smart or really dumb. Lately, I've found mostly evidence of the latter. Also, it means that these particular X-chromosome brain genes come from the mother only. No wonder I don't have my dad's gift for math.

-- Updated 5/1

Link It seems what I said above was not quite correct. Apparently, one of the X-chromosomes is mostly shut down in girls as well. Hmmm.

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