Article ID: CBB001200847

Sexing the X: How the X Became the “Female Chromosome” (2012)

unapi

This essay examines how the X became the female chromosome and how the association of the X with femaleness influences research questions, models, and descriptive language in human sex chromosome research. I trace how the X is gendered female in scientific and popular discourse; document the contingent technical, material, and ideological factors that led to the feminization of the X during the first decades of sex chromosome research; and track the introduction of the female chromosome into human genetics at midcentury. In the second part of the essay, I document the continuing influence of the feminization of the X on genetic research, exemplified by X chromosome mosaicism theories of female biology and behavior.

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https://data.isiscb.org/isis/citation/CBB001200847/

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Authors & Contributors
Shea, Elizabeth Parthenia
Richardson, Sarah S.
Chadarevian, Soraya de
Wilcox, Hui Niu
Wapner, Jessica
Veenis, Milena
Concepts
Genetics
Human genetics
Chromosomes
Genes
Science and gender
Science and culture
Time Periods
20th century, late
20th century
21st century
20th century, early
Places
United States
Netherlands
China
Institutions
Human Genome Project
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