Lucrezia Magazine

It appears that science follows the Biblical example. First, there was Adam, and Eve followed. In the world of genetics, the first four genomes to be mapped successfully were male. The latest breakthrough, one that hopes to unravel the genetic feminine mystique, concerns mapping the genome of a woman for the very first time.

Researchers at Leiden University Medical Centre confirmed that the mapped female genome is the first in the world and the first European whose DNA sequence will be made public. The aim behind this is to understand the workings of the X chromosome. The human genome - the sum total of a human’s genetic material - contains the hereditary instructions or coding to build, maintain, and reproduce (another human being).

"The sequencing of a woman allows a better understanding of the X-chromosome," the gene thread associated with female characteristics, said Gert-Jan van Ommen, head of the team that carried out the study.

A genome map, like all maps, aims to guide a geneticist around the genetic highways, side streets, motorways and alleys of an individual, to investigate genetic function and/or genetic on/off switches that relate to human diseases.

Source: AFP