Copy machines from the perspective of men, anyways.
Females can differ from each other almost as much as they do from males in the behavior of many genes at the heart of sexual identity, researchers said.
âLiterally every one of the females we looked at had a different genetic story,â said Duke University genetics expert Huntington Willard, who co-wrote the study. âIt is not just a little bit of variation.â
All told, men and women may differ by as much as 2% of their entire genetic inheritance, greater than the hereditary gap between humankind and its closest relative -- the chimpanzee.
âIn essence,â Willard said, âthere is not one human genome, but two -- male and female.â
Until now, researchers considered the shuffle of sex chromosomes at conception a simple matter of genetic roulette.
The chromosomes that dictate sexual development are mixed and matched in predictable combinations: A female inherits one X chromosome from each parent; a male inherits an X chromosome from his mother and a Y chromosome from his father.
To avoid any toxic effect from double sets of X genes, female cells randomly choose one copy of the X chromosome and silence it -- or so scientists had believed.
The new analysis found that the second X chromosome was not a silent partner. As many as 25% of its genes are active, serving as blueprints to make necessary proteins.
To investigate this variation, Carrel and Willard isolated cells from 40 women and measured the activity of hundreds of genes to see whether those on the second X chromosome were active or silent.
Although those extra genes were supposed to be turned off, they found that about 15% of them in all female cells were still active, or in the terminology of genetics, âexpressed.â In some women, up to an additional 10% of those X-linked genes showed varying patterns of activity.
âThis is 200 to 300 genes that are expressed up to twice as much as in a male or some other females,â Willard said. âThis is a huge number.â
Researchers were surprised that they found so many unexpected differences in the behavior of the one sex chromosome that men and women share.
Though there is dramatic variation in the activation of genes on the X chromosomes that women inherit, there is none among those in men, the researchers reported.
https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2005-mar-17-sci-xchromosome17-story.html
Just one of the many reasons to stop worrying about men. As above so below, micro is macro, etc. Pay attention and youâll see the way this echoes throughout society, culture, etc.
If weâve tried it with men once, weâve tried it with men a thousand times. Observe the result, and move on.
You all know the saying about insanity? About trying the same thing over and over and expecting different results? Nevermind being the same thing over and over.
Itâs in working with women, for women, among women, to women[âs goals], from women[âs perspective], etc. that you will have a chance for something besides action, reaction, reaction, reaction. A chance for real experimentation, creativity, novelty, ingenuity, growth, etc.
Try, for a litte bit, to stop fussing about men. You donât even have to fuss about other women, you can start with just yourself.
You can always get back to men later. Theyâll still be there, same as ever.