Question

How is sex determined in humans?

Answer 1

The female has two X chromosomes (XX) and the male has X and Y (XY). During the process of meiosis, when the sex cell division takes place in adults (dividing to 23 chromosomes), the female cell will divide into two X sex cells. The male cell divides into an X and Y cell. A person has 46 chromosomes in total. So, 23 chromosomes come from the mother, and 23 from the father. During fertilization, if a Y sperm cell fuse with an ovum (X), a boy is produced (XY) and if an X sperm cell fuse with the ovum (X), a girl is produced. So, 23 chromosomes from either parent, gives the child the total number of 46.