Name: The weird history of the "sex chromosomes"
Uploaded: 2020-03-23T14:48:38Z
Duration: 13 min 24 s
Description: The common thinking on biological sex goes like this: females have two X chromosomes in their cells, while males have one X and one Y. In this myth-busting talk, science writer and podcaster Molly Webster shows why the so-called "sex chromosomes" are more complicated than this simple definition -- and reveals why we should think about them differently.

Molly Webster: The weird history of the "sex chromosomes"

The weird history of the "sex chromosomes"

The common thinking on biological sex goes like this: females have two X chromosomes in their cells, while males have one X and one Y. In this myth-busting talk, science writer and podcaster Molly Webster shows why the so-called "sex chromosomes" are more complicated than this simple definition -- and reveals why we should think about them differently.


Biology textbooks often claim that X and Y chromosomes neatly determine biological sex, but the reality is much more complex. Cases like athletes with XY chromosomes who present as female reveal how these chromosomes do not always map to our social categories. Scientists once believed an extra Y chromosome caused criminality, a theory later disproven, showing how societal ideas warp science. Most surprisingly, 96 percent of genes on the X chromosome have nothing to do with sex or reproduction.