Inheritance of Sex (Edexcel GCSE Biology: Combined Science)
Revision Note
Author
LáraExpertise
Biology Lead
Inheritance of Sex
- Sex is determined by an entire chromosome pair (as opposed to most other characteristics that are just determined by one or a number of genes)
- Females have the sex chromosomes XX
- Males have the sex chromosomes XY
- As only a father can pass on a Y chromosome, he is responsible for determining the sex of the child
Sperm cells determine the sex of offspring
- The inheritance of sex can be shown using a genetic diagram (known as a Punnett square), with the X and Y chromosomes taking the place of the alleles usually written in the boxes
Punnett square showing the inheritance of sex
You've read 0 of your 0 free revision notes
Get unlimited access
to absolutely everything:
- Downloadable PDFs
- Unlimited Revision Notes
- Topic Questions
- Past Papers
- Model Answers
- Videos (Maths and Science)
Did this page help you?