Question

Anita was happy when she gave birth to her first child. Her in- laws were dissatisfied at her not giving birthto a male child and blamed Anita. Anita tried to convince her in laws that she had no role in the child’s gender. They understood the biological reason but were yet to be satisfied. Anita’s husband took up the matter and convinced the parents. 

(a) What values did Anita’s husband show in the above situation? 

(b) What governs sex determination in humans? How is it different from birds? 

(c) Why can’t Anita be blamed for not giving birth to a male child?

Answer 1

 (a) Strong and determined personality with responsibility towards the family and respect for elders.  

(b) Sex chromosomes. In human males it is XY and in female it is XX In birds, male is ZZ while female is ZW.

(c) Human femals are homogametic i.e. produces only one type of gametes containing 22+X choromosome only. Males are hetrogametic and produce two types of gametes 22+X and 22+Y. It is the type of the male gamete which determines the sex of the foetus. If X chromosome containing spaerm fuses with the egg, it produces a female child whereas if Y chromosome containing sperm fuses with the egg, it produces a male child.