My chorus carpool buddy was amused that I took a college course called Baby Zoe. It was 300 women and two guys in a lecture hall, learning about the human reproduction system, pregnancy, and birth, one of the best college classes I ever took. And I took meteorology, horticulture, ice skating, and Swimming 101!
Most of the women in that class were wanna-be moms, and knowing just what would be happening during those long nine months was a gift from the professor. We got a mini-genetics lesson regarding conception, and all the different things that could but probably wouldn’t go wrong.
Conception is when the sperm fertilizes the egg. Half of the chromosomes come from the egg and half come from the sperm (23 pairs) and when the fertilized egg splits in two and becomes two cells, the story is set for that baby.
A zygote is a single-celled organism resulting from a fertilized egg. The zygote divides to become a ball of cells that eventually implants in the wall of the uterus.
Any mutations or diversions from a run-of-the-mill baby happens in this moment or shortly thereafter. As the cells continue to divide and the embryo grows, certain things happen at each step of development. Any deviation from the standard 23 pairs (including the gender chromosomes) can result in different syndromes that determine physical and mental characteristics of the baby.
The father determines the gender of the baby. The dad has an X or a Y chromosome to contribute to the baby’s chromosome pairs. X would be a girl, and Y would be a boy.
The mom can only provide an X chromosome. XX = girl, XY = boy.
Downs Syndrome – an extra chromosome (not a gender chromosome X or Y) lots of problems with learning, unusual facial characteristics, speech issues, etc.
Turner’s Syndrome – a missing X chromosome (one X instead of XX). Turner’s people are always female. Turner’s people are short, have thick necks, wrists, and ankles, have mottled skin, and have underdeveloped ovaries, so they are infertile, possible heart and kidney problems.
My chorus carpool mate asked what would happen if the embryo only had a Y and no X. I wasn’t sure, so I told her I didn’t know.
When I got home from chorus, I Googled it. Google may have a monopoly and may have broken copyright rules and cost authors their livelihoods (I’m an author), but dang! Google knows everything.
Jacob’s syndrome = XYY. The gender is male, very tall, with possible learning disabilities.
Y only chromosome = no viable embryo, meaning no baby. Without X, the embryo does not survive. X is the secret sauce for life.
I probably learned that 40 some years ago and forgot it. I forget a lot of stuff these days, like who is the red-headed singer from the UK? His name is on the tip of my tongue. He sings about the Shape of You and being Perfect. I can see his face, just can’t get his name.
Or the name of someone I haven’t seen for a decade.
By the way, the pregnant woman has an embryo until it becomes a fetus.
- Google says an embryo is the early stage of human development in which organs and critical body structures are formed.
- An embryo is termed a fetus beginning in the 11th week of pregnancy, which is the 9th week of development after fertilization of the egg.
Human reproduction is fascinating. I’m so glad I took that class.
It’s Ed Sheeran.
FIRST DATE, WORST DATE EVER! 