Geneticists have uncovered new insights into how sex chromosome systems work in the platypus and the chicken - which will lead to better understanding of our own sex chromosome evolution and gene regulation.
UNSW Sydney researchers have made new discoveries of fundamental differences in biological processes between males and females - by interrogating the unique and diverse sex chromosome systems of the platypus and the chicken.
The findings, published today in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), are a surprise in the field of genetics. The discoveries will help build a better understanding of how sex chromosomes evolved, how our bodies function - and they could lead to new discoveries in biology.
"Mammals, such as humans, have females with two X chromosomes and males with one X chromosome and one Y chromosome, which creates an imbalance between the sexes," says lead author Dr Nicholas Lister from UNSW's School of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences.
"This imbalance is corrected by a process called sex chromosome dosage compensation."
