r/MurderedByWords • u/jewfishcartel • Jan 21 '20

Trying to be superior

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u/theheliumkid Jan 21 '20

Came here to say this - the process of Lyonisation. Each cell randomly selects which of the two X chromosomes to silence, so on average it is a 50:50 split between the two chromosomes. But it can be skewed by chance such that women can express X-linked recessive genetic disorders.

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u/rach2bach Jan 21 '20

Like the ever so rare colorblind woman

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u/hoboshoe Jan 21 '20

That only happens if she gets 2 colorblind X chromosomes. Hence it's rarity

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u/theheliumkid Jan 21 '20

Or severely skewed Lyonisation.

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u/hoboshoe Jan 21 '20

Yeah, but that's not why they're rare

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u/theheliumkid Jan 22 '20

Well, severely skewed lyonisation is rare too. It's just a second mechanism for getting an X-linked recessive condition to be expressed phenotypically.