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The Why Factor: The Y Chromosome

The Y Chromosome

22/05/2015

BBC World Service - The Why Factor, The Y Chromosome

How the Y chromosome transforms a female embryo to a male one

How the Y chromosome transforms a female embryo to a male one and the differences between men and women.

The Y chromosome. What makes a boy a boy? In this programme we put the Y chromosome under the microscope. We find out how it transforms a female embryo into a male one. We discover what it can tell us about the differences between men and women. We speak to a teenage boy who has not just one Y chromosome but two. And we meet the scientist who turned a female mouse male.

(Photo: X and Y chromosome on a black background. Credit: Shutterstock)

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