to think this is basic biology?

[juneybean]

Just caught the back end of Million Pound drop where the question was What determines the gender? The Egg or The Sperm.

The couple in question honestly didn't know the answer and I have just asked a friend and she didn't know either.

I seriously thought it was common knowledge

I don't think it's irrelevant. Lots of people have children. I think it's worth knowing how you got them.

It irritates me when people are pleased with their own ignorance.

My year 7s know this.

I don't think anyone was pleased with their own ignorance Endoplasmic?! Merely stating - in reply to all the accusations of thickness and idiocy - that recall of that fact, which may be basic but also be more interesting/of easier recall to some than others (who may potentially know more facts about the great war poets for example) is not a barometer of overall intelligence.

And to suggest otherwise is, in my mind, not very intelligent itself.

endo I would have known it in year 7 - because I was taught it and would have needed to know it for my exams.

The only reason it cropped up again in my life is due to chromosonal disorders. Otherwise I may not have remembered.

And again - I'll say it. Kieren is a lovely man - his lack of knowledge in this area should not distract from this.

You might also know it from history - Henry VIII got rid of wife after wife for not producing a son, when it was his issue

Although Narked, as mentioned upthread, conditions in a woman's reproductive tract arguably decide which type of sperm get through to the egg.

Not that's a cause for beheading :o

the questions on these TV shows are, I'm told, tested to see that enough of the viewers will know, or think they know, the answers, so that they have the pleasure of shouting at the screen, but enough contestants will get the anser wrong so that the viewers will have the pleasure of feeling superior.

This one seems to have passed the test....

When, you think about it, shows like the million pound drop, the weakest link and that one round the lottery results, rather depend on people not knowing things; otherwise it would cost them a fortune.

I don't think there's a definitive answer as to how much influence it has compared to the proportion of sperm types released have. The example of Henry VIII would suggest it has less influence than some research has suggested, unless he chose particularly acidic women :o (I think it was that which killed the XY sperm off).

I just remember a study was published when I was pregnant which drew my interest. There's a bit on Google but not a lot.

That's interesting Piglet, I bet they are and a lot of research goes into them.
Unlike those multiple choice phone-in things that come up on breakfast shows and are used purely to rake in money.

It is common knowledge but common knowledge doesn't seem to be common knowledge universally iyswim! I suppose it is easy to forget. I am more surprised at people who can't do basic Maths really. Which is something you actively use in everyday life.

6 wives with unfavourable conditions starts to look a bit

Well exactly.

Or maybe he chose wives (or had to choose wives) who were more submissive and should have chose a dominant one :o ...

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/australiaandthepacific/newzealand/1406997/Dominant-mothers-have-more-boys.html

Disclaimer: I don't necessarily agree with this study/viewpoint, but it is interesting.

YANBU. It is basic biology.

If you know (1) women are XX and men are XY, and (2) only one letter per egg or sperm, then you have to know that it is the sperm that decides the sex before the egg will always be X.

The XY things sounds a bit too algebraic to me. All you need to know is that the sperm determines the sex and the egg doesn't.

I think Henry XIII's wives produced rather more children (stillbirths) than the ones that actually survived but that possibly is not the subject for a junior school history lesson.

Yes, according to this Henry VIII actually had 7, or possibly 8, sons, although all but one of the legitimate ones died in infancy. And he had either 4 or 5 daughters.

So he actually conceived more sons than daughters.

Or maybe he chose wives (or had to choose wives) who were more submissive and should have chose a dominant one

Of my grandmother's great-grandchildren, 13/14 are boys, so, we cousins, must be a dominant bunch.

Alternatively, if we had produced a few more children between us, there may have been more girls.

"XY thing sounds a bit too algebraic for me"

Does it now

"All you need to know is that the sperm determines the sex and the egg doesn't."

I suppose you mean memorise, not know, since you can't know any such thing unless you understand the "XY thing".

Agree with CoteDAzur

What's the point of knowledge if you dont have any insight with it, otherwise all you've got is a collection of facts

YANBU!! Its basic biology indeed! Although I do understand that there may be people who are not as much 'into' bio as some of us are! When the race is on, someone's got to bring up the rear, my dear!

Is this piece of information specifically on the GCSE syllabus / KS4 National Curriculum? Because if it isn't, some teachers may not happen to mention it. And then it's pot luck as to whether you happen to find out later. I remember learning about sperm meets egg, implants, grows etc. but not that the sperm determines the gender.

Well I am so glad that I must be thick.

I did basic biology for a year when I was 13.. 30 years ago, and have never had much need to maintain any long lasting knowledge of sperm and eggs other than the fact I cant have children, so for me, it really is not of any interest.

I am sure however that there are plenty other subjects which I am knowledgable about, that I would consider to be basic facts, which many of you smug gits didnt know. .

I know this but am quite sure I didn't learn it at school.
I have picked up quite a lot later on in life.

I agree with JMHPG. I should have known from my bio lessons 35 years ago, but I found it easier to remember that Henry XIII kept wanting a wife to produce a male heir, whilst not realising that the gender was his 'issue'.

(Did you see what I did there?)