Y chromosome

The 23 pairs of chromosomes of a normal human male.

Smaller of the two sex chromosomes. In male mammals it occurs paired with the other type of sex chromosome (X), which carries far more genes. The Y chromosome is the smallest of all the mammalian chromosomes and is considered to be largely inert (that is, without direct effect on the physical body), apart from containing the genes that control the development of the testes. There are only 20 genes discovered so far on the human Y chromosome, far fewer than on all other human chromosomes. In humans, whether a person is male or female is determined by the particular combination of the two sex chromosomes in the body cells. In females both the sex chromosomes are the same – two X chromosomes (XX). In males the two are different – one X chromosome and one Y chromosome (XY). The Y chromosome is shorter than the X. Genes on these chromosomes determine a person's sex (sex determination).

As a result of meiosis gametes from a female each contain one X chromosome. However, gametes from a male are of two kinds. Half of the gametes contain an X chromosome and half contain a Y chromosome. If an X carrying gamete from a male fertilizes a female gamete the result will be a female. If a Y carrying gamete from a male fertilizes a female gamete, the result will be a male.

In humans, about one in 300 males inherits two Y chromosomes at conception, making him an XYY triploid. Few if any differences from normal XY males exist in these individuals, although at one time they were thought to be emotionally unstable and abnormally aggressive. In 1989 the gene determining that a human is male was found to occur on the X as well as on the Y chromosome; however, it is not activated in the female.