Geek Out: Let’s Talk About Sex, Or Should That Be Gender?

23rd pair of chromosomes:

If you’re not sure about this phrase and haven’t read my previous post “the genetic cook book” you might consider checking out that post before continuing

Embryo:

You’ll find that different resources identify the transition from embryo to fetus occurring at different stages but most will agree it’s around week 11 (which is actually 9 weeks after conception) so pretty close to when someone would describe themselves as being 3 months pregnant.  As the developmental processes we’re talking about in this blog start in the embryo, I’ve typically just referred to the embryo, rather than “embryo then fetus” which is a bit of a mouthful!

Become a mother:

There is evidence that shows that women whose mothers smoked when they were pregnant with them, have a greater risk of miscarriage in their own pregnancies – literally grandma’s smoking can damage the production of the ova that could become her grandchildren, that’s quite the thought isn’t it?

Quick genetic analysis:

In case you’re interested, the name for this type of analysis where your chromosomes are examined is karyotyping and this process normally takes several days, so most of us are happy when the midwife makes a quick call on our baby’s sex!

External genitalia:

In females, these are the structures outside of the vagina, collectively referred to by a word most of us will never use – the vulva. Included under this heading are the labia majora and minor, the clitoris and a few others bits and pieces but not, just to reiterate, the vagina.

In males, whilst it’s kind of obvious that the scrotum and the penis would be classed as external genitalia, hopefully now you’ve read about the journey of the testes from their starting off point inside the abdomen, you can see why they are still classed as internal, reproductive/genitalia structures.