Enzyme Helps Males Make Up For Their X Chromosome Shortage

Researchers from the **European Molecular Biology Laboratory** (EMBL) in Heidelberg, Germany, and the EMBL-European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI) in Hinxton, UK, have revealed new insights into how sex chromosomes are regulated. A chromatin modifying enzyme helps compensate for the fact that males have only one copy of the sex **chromosome X**, while females have two. The **enzyme** distinguishes between male and female sex chromosomes in fruit flies and binds to different locations on the male and female X chromosome, the scientists have recently reported in the journal Cell. The evolutionarily conserved enzyme is also found in humans. whole article on "sciencedalily.com":[ http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/05/080529121210.htm]

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