The X in Sex: How the X Chromosome Controls Our Lives [Paperback]

David Bainbridge (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0674016211 | ISBN-13: 978-0674016217 | Publication Date: September 30, 2004

A tiny scrap of genetic information determines our sex; it also consigns many of us to a life of disease, directs or disrupts the everyday working of our bodies, and forces women to live as genetic chimeras. The culprit--so necessary and yet the source of such upheaval--is the X chromosome, and this is its story. An enlightening and entertaining tour of the cultural and natural history of this intriguing member of the genome, The X in Sex traces the journey toward our current understanding of the nature of X. From its chance discovery in the nineteenth century to the promise and implications of ongoing research, David Bainbridge shows how the X evolved and where it and its counterpart Y are going, how it helps assign developing human babies their sex--and maybe even their sexuality--and how it affects our lives in infinitely complex and subtle ways. X offers cures for disease, challenges our cultural, ethical, and scientific assumptions about maleness and femaleness, and has even reshaped our views of human evolution and human nature.

(20030201)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In his fourth-century BCE Generation of Animals, Aristotle wondered what made us into males and females, and the question has vexed scientists ever since. Bainbridge (Making Babies) shows that the answers are at last partly illuminated, thanks to advances in our understanding of the mechanisms at work in sex chromosomes. He debunks once and for all Aristotle's notion that maleness, and hence the Y chromosome, is a more active, superior state of being, and instead hails the X chromosome as more profound, interesting and powerful-not just more than its "sad, shrunken" Y counterpart, but more than any other chromosome in our cells. First explaining how the sex chromosomes-which he calls the "seeds of sexiness"-turn undifferentiated embryonic tissue into testicles or allow the formation of ovaries, Bainbridge goes on to demonstrate how the X chromosome is actually in control of the process. Examples throughout the animal kingdom and instances of humans with anomalous chromosome lineups (like XXY or XO) show X's role in sex determination, autoimmune and sex-linked diseases. Bainbridge also reveals how women's cells "deal with the double bounty of X chromosomes," why girl identical twins are less identical and less rare than boy identical twins, and how studying women's tumors showed scientists that cancer begins in a "lone, fatal" cell. With first-rate research and winning, dry wit, Bainbridge crafts a slim volume of science made simple. 4 line illustrations.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Scientific American

Jones and Bainbridge arrive in different ways at the same conclusion: women are the more resilient sex. Jones, professor of genetics at University College London, puts it bluntly: "[M]ales are wilting away.... From sperm count to social status, and from fertilization to death, as civilization advances those who bear Y chromosomes are in relative decline." Bainbridge, lecturer in comparative anatomy and physiology at the Royal Veterinary College in London, focuses more on the biology of sex differences. "Almost every woman is, inside and out, a patchwork of two different cells--some using one X chromosome, and some the other.... What more all-encompassing way could one want for women to be more complex than men?" Consequently, they are less vulnerable to such sex-linked diseases as hemophilia, muscular dystrophy and color blindness. (131)

Editors of Scientific American --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Harvard University Press (September 30, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0674016211
• ISBN-13: 978-0674016217
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,029,196 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Strange Tale of The X Chromosome, June 14, 2003

By 

Robert Derenthal "bucherwurm" (California United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The X in Sex: How the X Chromosome Controls Our Lives (Hardcover)

I love to read science books because they continually amaze me with the hidden worlds that they reveal. This book is no exception. Author Bainbridge has written a slim book of 181 pages, that tells us the marvels, eccentricities, and terrors hidden away in the X chromosome. It always amuses me when people extol the human body as the epitome of creation excellence. When you look deeply into our physical engineering, though, you usually start wondering if perhaps we were designed by a fractious committee.

It is the male Y chromosome, and specifically the "Sry" gene on that chromosome, that actively sets out to make any cell blob containing it to turn into a male. But the Y chromosome is really just a dried up fossil of a gene that serves no other purpose than determining sex. It is the X that has many functions.

The book answers many questions. Why are diseases such as Duchenne muscular dystrophy and hemophilia mostly limited to males? Why are male identical twins really identical, while female identical twins are not totally identical? Why are approximately 50% of female body cell X chromosomes different from the other 50% while in a male the cells are all alike? Why are women the main sufferers from autoimmune diseases? What happens when a woman is born with only one sex chromosome, a single X? Why is it that color blindness affects mostly men, and why is color blindness almost inevitably red-green, and almost never blue-yellow?

We also learn that many other mammals live and reproduce perfectly well with no Y chromosomes. Armadillos generally give birth to identical quadruplets. And on and on goes Mr. Bainbridge with the facts about the unusual X chromosome that is an astounding two inches long yet is able to intricately fold itself to fit into every tiny body cell.

This is a very accessible book that should educate and, indeed, entertain anyone who picks it up.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars an e-X-cellent book, May 19, 2003

By 

A. Hoy "amysusedbooks" (Rosedale, MD United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The X in Sex: How the X Chromosome Controls Our Lives (Hardcover)

Let me start out by saying "I apologize for the title. It's a dirty job, and somebody had to do it." Second I'd like to note that I'd rather give this book a 4.5, but it errs much more towards the 5 end of the spectrum than the 4, so I will be generous and round up.

This book is extremely interesting, even exciting, and I read it in two sittings. It's peppered throughout with dry British humor (you have to be a fan of British humorists to notice it most of the time, I think), and very entertaining as well as edifying. This book is a joy to read because it is well-written 97% of the time. For the other 3%, the author lost me by referring to something that was (probably) in the book prior to that point, but I didn't recall it and he neglected to put a little parenthetical reminder as to what it was exactly. And sometimes the flow seems a tiny bit scattered. This is why it would be a 4.5 star book, and not a flat-out 5, if I had that choice. However, they are extremely minor quibbles, and I only mention them at all because otherwise the book is so wonderful. (I would also LOVE more information, but I can't fault the author for not including more -- the length is just right for a trade science book.)

David Bainbridge's premise is that the X chromosome is wildly underestimated, or perhaps underrated, and that some people may even go so far as to use the fact that the (stunted) Y chromosome is more 'powerful' -- presumably because its mere presence creates a boy fetus instead of a female (most of the time), even when multiple Xes "gang up" on it -- to further a sexist agenda. Mr. Bainbridge went so far as to argue that the X is a much more powerful chromosome, and that people should wonder how women cope with two of them instead of assuming that they are so weak that women feel no ill effects. (In fact, there are mechanisms in the human body to protect a woman from "an overdose of X".) While I was skeptical of this premise, Mr. Bainbridge certainly argued a good case, and I learned all sorts of fascinating things that they don't teach in high school biology.

All in all? Fascinating. Even if you didn't like biology in school (or maybe especially if that's the case), check out this book. It's the kind of science book you'll take with you for a long soak in a hot tub.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Strange Tale of The X Chromosome, June 14, 2003

By 

Robert Derenthal "bucherwurm" (California United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The X in Sex: How the X Chromosome Controls Our Lives (Hardcover)

I love to read science books because they continually amaze me with the hidden worlds that they reveal. This book is no exception. Author Bainbridge has written a slim book of 181 pages, that tells us the marvels, eccentricities, and terrors hidden away in the X chromosome. It always amuses me when people extol the human body as the epitome of creation excellence. When you look deeply into our physical engineering, though, you usually start wondering if perhaps we were designed by a fractious committee.

It is the male Y chromosome, and specifically the "Sry" gene on that chromosome, that actively sets out to make any cell blob containing it to turn into a male. But the Y chromosome is really just a dried up fossil of a gene that serves no other purpose than determining sex. It is the X that has many functions.

The book answers many questions. Why are diseases such as Duchenne muscular dystrophy and hemophilia mostly limited to males? Why are male identical twins really identical, while female identical twins are not totally identical? Why are approximately 50% of female body cell X chromosomes different from the other 50% while in a male the cells are all alike? Why are women the main sufferers from autoimmune diseases? What happens when a woman is born with only one sex chromosome, a single X? Why is it that color blindness affects mostly men, and why is color blindness almost inevitably red-green, and almost never blue-yellow?

We also learn that many other mammals live and reproduce perfectly well with no Y chromosomes. Armadillos generally give birth to identical quadruplets. And on and on goes Mr. Bainbridge with the facts about the unusual X chromosome that is an astounding two inches long yet is able to intricately fold itself to fit into every tiny body cell.

This is a very accessible book that should educate and, indeed, entertain anyone who picks it up.