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NL888 Posted 13 years ago
Grammar
Does which refer to "genes"? Or chromosomes?
Context:
To find such a subtle misspelling seemed an almost insurmountable problem of scale. But the other thing we knew about
CF is that it is inherited in a recessive pattern. To understand the meaning of this, it is important to consider that we all have two copies of each gene, one inherited from Mom and one from Dad. (The exceptions are genes on the X and the Y chromosomes, which are present in only a single copy in males.) In a recessive disease like CF, a child is affected only if both copies of the gene are faulty. For that to happen, both parents must carry a flawed copy!abt since individuals with one normal and one faulty copy are entirely well, these carriers are generally unaware of their status (about one in thirty individuals of northern European ancestry is a CF carrier, and most of them have no family history of the disease).
To find such a subtle misspelling seemed an almost insurmountable problem of scale. But the other thing we knew about
CF is that it is inherited in a recessive pattern. To understand the meaning of this, it is important to consider that we all have two copies of each gene, one inherited from Mom and one from Dad. (The exceptions are genes on the X and the Y chromosomes, which are present in only a single copy in males.) In a recessive disease like CF, a child is affected only if both copies of the gene are faulty. For that to happen, both parents must carry a flawed copy!abt since individuals with one normal and one faulty copy are entirely well, these carriers are generally unaware of their status (about one in thirty individuals of northern European ancestry is a CF carrier, and most of them have no family history of the disease).
Top answer
NL888 Does which refer to "genes"? Or chromosomes? It could be either.
- NL888 Does which refer to "genes"?
- Or chromosomes?
- It could be either.
- I'd go for 'genes' as the most direct route semantically.
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5 Answers
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NL888Does which refer to "genes"? Or chromosomes?It could be either. I'd go for 'genes' as the most direct route semantically.
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The antecedent is genes.
A male zygote has one X chromosome and one Y chromosome. (Thus it has only one copy of the genes on the X chromosome, except those genes which are present on both X and Y.)
A female zygote has two X chromosomes. (Thus it has two copies of the genes on the X chromosome)
A male zygote has one X chromosome and one Y chromosome. (Thus it has only one copy of the genes on the X chromosome, except those genes which are present on both X and Y.)
A female zygote has two X chromosomes. (Thus it has two copies of the genes on the X chromosome)
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AlpheccaStarsA male zygote has one X chromosome and one Y chromosome.Thus, only a single copy of each gene: 'which'; could reasonably refer to either, I think.
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NL888So it remains confusing to me.No need: it comes to the same thing, whichever you suppose. No doubt that is why the writer did not worry about it.
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