From BBC News - Female chromosome has X factor:
[...] They found that female mammals, who possess two copies of the X chromosome, express more genes than males, who only have one X and a Y chromosome.
They also said that females were protected from many diseases because of their double dose of the X chromosome. [...]
This means that female mammals contain over 1,000 more genes than males. To compensate for this, the female body switches off one X chromosome - quite randomly - in each cell, thus evening up protein production between the sexes. [...]
“It turns out 15% of genes escape inactivation altogether, each of which now becomes a candidate for explaining differences between men and women,” said Robin Lovell-Badge, of the National Institute for Medical Research, UK.
“Moreover, another 10% are sometimes inactivated and sometimes not, giving a mechanism to make women much more genetically variable than men. I always thought they were more interesting!” [...]
But there are also good news for men:
[...] New Scientist reports that although men are more likely to be mentally retarded, they are also more likely to be geniuses.
Although the average IQ of men and women is equal, men are more frequently found at both extremes of intelligence.
This is because, if you have very good intelligence genes on your X chromosome, it pays not to have them muffled by more average genes on another X chromosome.
So now genetecists have proved what I suspected: that men are women are different, but it all compensates and evens out in the end.
3 comments ↓
I think it’s total bullshit. And I have to ask you, are you satisfied with someone saying that there are fewer very intelligent women? I am certainly not.
To me this sounds more like guessing than proof. Take a look at this
paragraph:
“This means that female mammals contain over 1,000 more genes than males. To compensate for this, the female body switches off one X chromosome - quite randomly - in each cell, thus evening up protein production between the sexes.”
Well, if it’s totally random, then women should get the same amount of genetical diseases as men, right? We would have no use of having redundant X chromosomes. But apparently this is not the case according to the article. So if we can somehow “choose” to use the genes without the diseases, we might be able to “choose” the better intelligence genes as well. And wouldn’t mens’ intelligence genes be a bit muffled by the more average genes on the Y chromosome as well? Unless the good intelligence genes are just on the X chromosome, which seems to be the case with some of these disease genes from what I understand. To be a genius I believe you’d have to have very good intelligence genes on both chromosomes regardless of whether you have two X chromosomes or one X and one Y.
Assuming that their findings on IQ distribution is true, I will continue to assume that this is due to sociological structures rather than genetics. To me it seems like these men (yes, they were all men from what I can see in the article, although men in no way have a monopoly on being discriminating against women) observed the uneven distribution of IQ and jumped to conclusions, without thinking about other aspects than the one of their research area.
Personally, I just don’t believe much into the concept of IQ itself. The methods we have today for measuring this elusive IQ are not good, and the definition of IQ is hazy and does not take into account all kinds of ‘intelligence’.
By the way, according to this Wired article about the same issue, the researchers are a man and a woman (Huntington Willard and Laura Carrel).
From my experience i agree pretty much with the thing that males’ iq distribution is flatter than womens, and that’s why women succeed overally more in studies up to high school,but then men rule more maybe. For me men are more random, maybe because women try to fit and men dare to find their own ways, we are more stubborn about some things and this forces us to sharpen ourselves, like to seize the power,or to feel stronger(and these lie in the genes and have influence in personal development) an so on everything related to this, women are more conservative and men more daredevil. as ana says different and complementary but i would still prefer that women leaded countries =), i would like to be more equal in everything,and then, to me, sad articles like the one about computer geeks by helga wouldnt be ‘real’,sad sad sad sad sad sad sad sad… sad sad sad sad. =) i didnt like to see this competitive side of helga
i have no fun criticizing feeble people in a funny way, they are pitiful and to laugh at them is to place yourself above nothing as they are nothing, but paying attention to them means too that u need them to exist so u feel better with your knowledge maybe, maybe not… it’s mean , it’s in vain, is poorest and dont help at all just makes it worse just place women against men sad sad… hope it was done unintentionally
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