Victorian government portal for older people, with information about government and community services and programs. Type a minimum of three characters then press UP or DOWN on the keyboard to navigate the autocompleted search results. Your chromosomes contain the blueprint for your body — your genes. Almost every cell in the human body contains a copy of this blueprint, mostly stored inside a special sac within the cell called the nucleus. Chromosomes are long strands of a chemical substance called deoxyribonucleic acid DNA.
Sex Linked Genes. A particularly important category of genetic linkage has to do with the X and Y sex chromosomes. These not only carry the genes that determine male and female traits but also those for some other characteristics as well. Genes that are carried by either sex chromosome are said to be sex linked.
Sex linkage applies to genes that are located on the sex chromosomes. These genes are considered sex-linked because their expression and inheritance patterns differ between males and females. While sex linkage is not the same as genetic linkage , sex-linked genes can be genetically linked see bottom of page.
The XY sex-determination system is the sex-determination system found in humans , most other mammals , some insects Drosophila , some snakes, and some plants Ginkgo. In this system, the sex of an individual is determined by a pair of sex chromosomes. Females typically have two of the same kind of sex chromosome XX , and are called the homogametic sex.