Chromosome Y News and Research

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The Y chromosome is one of the two sex chromosomes in humans (the other is the X chromosome). The sex chromosomes form one of the 23 pairs of human chromosomes in each cell. The Y chromosome spans about 58 million base pairs (the building blocks of DNA) and represents almost 2 percent of the total DNA in cells.

Each person normally has one pair of sex chromosomes in each cell. The Y chromosome is present in males, who have one X and one Y chromosome, while females have two X chromosomes.

Identifying genes on each chromosome is an active area of genetic research. Because researchers use different approaches to predict the number of genes on each chromosome, the estimated number of genes varies. The Y chromosome likely contains between 70 and 200 genes. Because only males have the Y chromosome, the genes on this chromosome tend to be involved in male sex determination and development. Sex is determined by the SRY gene, which is responsible for the development of a fetus into a male. Other genes on the Y chromosome are important for male fertility.

Many genes are unique to the X or Y chromosome, but genes in an area known as the pseudoautosomal region are present on both chromosomes. As a result, men and women each have two functional copies of these genes. Many genes in the pseudoautosomal region are essential for normal development.

Genes on the Y chromosome are among the estimated 20,000 to 25,000 total genes in the human genome.

Bipolar disorder phenome database

A novel, free, public online database opening this week should greatly speed efforts to find genes linked to increase risk of bipolar disorder.

1 Aug 2007

Xenomics issued European patent for Transrenal Nucleic Acid Technology for Prenatal Diagnostics

Xenomics, Inc. has announced the issuance of its first European patent "Methods for detection of nucleic acid sequences in urine", EP 1634966 A2 that covers use of its proprietary transrenal nucleic acid technology in the area of prenatal diagnostics and genetic testing.

1 Aug 2007

Discovery of pathway that controls cell size and division

Organisms precisely regulate cell size to ensure that daughter cells have sufficient cellular material to thrive or to create specific cell types: a tiny sperm versus a gargantuan egg for example.

1 Aug 2007

Chromosomes responsible for a critical enzyme's activation during cell division

In a dividing cell, chromosomes interact with cellular scaffolding - called spindle microtubules - in order to move themselves to opposite ends of the cell, ensuring that both daughter cells receive an exact copy of their parent cell's genetic material.

1 Aug 2007

FOXP3 gene found to be involved in breast cancer

Researchers at the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center have identified a gene linked to the development of an aggressive form of breast cancer.

27 Jul 2007

The future of Alzheimer's disease research

Imagine the day when a routine visit to the family doctor includes a simple blood test to predict the risk for developing Alzheimer's disease (AD).

26 Jul 2007

New model for understanding how autism is acquired

A new model for understanding how autism is acquired has been developed by a team of researchers led by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) and Albert Einstein College of Medicine.

25 Jul 2007

New insight into cell division and chromosones

St. Jude investigators have used the lowly yeast to gain insights into how a dividing human cell ensures that an identical set of chromosomes gets passed on to each new daughter cell.

23 Jul 2007

Scientists lift lid on genetics of coronary artery disease

Scientists have moved a step closer to understanding how our genetic make-up can lead us to develop heart disease and to predicting who is most at risk.

19 Jul 2007

New approach for restless legs syndrome

Scientists at deCODE genetics ( NASDAQ:DCGN ) in collaboration with colleagues from Emory University today report the discovery of the first variant in the sequence of the human genome ever linked to risk of Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS) and Periodic Limb Movements (PLMs).

19 Jul 2007

New gene found for type 1 diabetes in children

Pediatrics researchers at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and McGill University in Montreal have identified a gene variant that raises a child's risk for type 1 diabetes, formerly called juvenile diabetes.

16 Jul 2007

Chromosome glue repairs damaged DNA

When a strand of DNA breaks in the body's cells, it normally does not take long until it has been repaired.

16 Jul 2007

Magnetic nano tweezers show how cancer drug works

The annoying bulges of an over-wound telephone cord that shorten its reach and limit a caller's motion help to explain why drugs called camptothecins are so effective in killing cancer cells, according to investigators at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and Delft University of Technology.

10 Jul 2007

New gene mutation linked to frontotemporal dementia

Researchers have identified a new gene mutation linked to frontotemporal dementia, according to a study published in the July 10, 2007, issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

10 Jul 2007

Genetic risk factor for colorectal and prostate cancer

A study led by researchers at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California (USC) has found that one of seven genetic risk factors previously identified as increasing the probability of developing prostate cancer also increases the probability of developing colorectal cancer.

9 Jul 2007

Chromosome disorders can arise when sex cells are formed

Chromosome disorders in sex cells cause infertility, miscarriage and irregular numbers of chromosomes (aneuploidy) in neonates.

9 Jul 2007

Common genetic risk factor for multiple cancers identified

9 Jul 2007

Chromosome linked to colorectal cancer identified

Researchers at the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research and Cancer Care Ontario have successfully identified a specific genetic variation on chromosome 8 that is associated with colorectal cancer.

9 Jul 2007

Discovery of new gene with links to childhood asthma

New treatments for childhood asthma could be in the pipeline following the discovery of a gene associated with the condition.

5 Jul 2007

Breakthrough new asthma gene found

In a large-scale study conducted with 2,643 children, international researchers with the participation of the Department of Experimental Pneumology of Ruhr-University Bochum (RUB), Germany (Prof. Dr. Albrecht Bufe), have discovered a gene variant that contributes significantly to the risk of childhood asthma.

5 Jul 2007