Self Assessment Answer # 4 for Lesson 12

by Dr Jamie Love © 2002 - 2005
Genetics Course

This is NOT normal! Usually a male cannot show signs of mosaic patterns caused by X inactivation. That's because normal males have only one X and they cannot inactivate the only X chromosome they have. To do so would bring certain death!

A karyotype of the cat showed that he was XXY - a "Klinefelter kitty" !
Like the version of human Klinefelter, this cat was a relatively normal looking male but every cell in its body had a Barr body (produced by its extra X chromosome). The X inactivation caused his coat to have the mottled appearance of a female calico cat.
(Of course, like all calico cats, he must have been heterozygote, on his X chromosome, for different coat colors.)

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Dr Jamie Love, the producer of these Genetics lessons, has written several self-study science courses specifically designed for home schoolers and other distance learners. These courses are "hypertextbooks" - delivered over the internet and read on your computer, just like web pages. To organize and distribute these hypertextbooks, Jamie created Merlin's Science Academy - a (non-accredited) "virtual school". Merlin's Science Academy sells self-paced, self-learning hypertextbooks that teach Alchemy (actually, Chemistry ), Astronomy and Genetics in a fun and unique way. Each course has computerized exams, unique features and a style best suited for teaching the subject. Principles of Alchemy (Chemistry) is for younger students (up to highschool), while Principles of Astronomy is for more advanced students (hobbyists & first-year university), and Principles of Genetics is most suitable for very advanced students (at university). However, every student is different and it would not be fair to generalize. So, visit Merlin's Science Academy where you can learn more about the courses, request free samples of each course (to download onto your computer) and enjoy the free online samples.

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