What is Klinefelters Syndrome (XXY)
In: Biology
Its a genetic condition where a male has an extra X chromosome.
Symptoms can involve infertility, skeletal issues, hormonal problems, slightly decreased life expectancy and mild learning difficulties.
Aside from high incidence of infertility, Klinefelters isn’t considered massively serious and most men and boys with the condition have fairly normal lives.
When sex cells are forming, what happens is that all the DNA lines up in two neat little rows, does a little dance to “shuffle” DNA to make a unique profile, and then splits into two cells.
Half the chromosomes go into one cell, and half into the other. One cell is supposed to get one X, and the other will get an X or a Y depending on whether this is happening inside a man or a woman. These “half-cells” will meet with another “half-cell” during sex and create a brand new DNA profile.
Just like everything else in the body, this process can sometimes go wrong. For instance, when two X chromosomes are pulled into one sex gamete, and the other sex gamete is left “blank”.
The “blank” gamete can make an XO – Turner Syndrome – or a YO zygote. This will self-terminate. It can’t live. But the “XX” gamete can make an “XXY” zygote or an XXX zygote. These are viable.
Klinefelter’s Syndrome is the XXY option. Triple-X syndrome is usually symptomless, but XXY has symptoms. The people who have the condition usually identify as male, but have some female physical characteristics. This can be quite difficult, as you might imagine.
XXY is what it is. Instead of a guy having one X and one Y chromosome, they get 2 X and one Y. It’s rarely a debilitating condition. In some men, it can do things like causing them to grow breasts unless they take additional hormones to prevent it. Some guys don’t even know they have it until they go through a fertility test. Men with the syndrome are usually, but not always, sterile.
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