The Inactive X is Shown to be Active Behind the Scenes

The human genome typically contains two sex chromosomes, and males usually have an X and a Y chromosome while most women have two X chromosomes. In women, one of the X chromosomes usually doesn’t express genes; it is inactivated. But the same X chromosome is not inactivated in every cell, and although the X chromosomes carry the same set of genes, the patterns of expression among those genes can vary between them. Scientists have now shown that in a cell, inactive X chromosome can influence the expression of genes on the other X chromosome. The study…