A highly talented 22-year-old female college athlete has just qualified to compete in the Summer Olympics. However, when she is required to undergo laboratory testing to measure testosterone levels, she is informed that she will not be permitted to compete because her testosterone levels are “too high for a female athlete”. Further medical and genetic testing reveal that she has a condition known as Complete Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome. She promptly hires an attorney to appeal the decision. A. What is the chromosomal sex of this female athlete? B. If she were subjected to a cytological test for the presence of a Barr body or bodies, what would typically be found on such a test performed on an individual having this condition? Please EXPLAIN why this is the case.
A highly talented 22-year-old female college athlete has just qualified to compete in the Summer Olympics. However, when she is required to undergo laboratory testing to measure testosterone levels, she is informed that she will not be permitted to compete because her testosterone levels are “too high for a female athlete”. Further medical and genetic testing reveal that she has a condition known as Complete Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome. She promptly hires an attorney to appeal the decision.
A. What is the chromosomal sex of this female athlete?
B. If she were subjected to a cytological test for the presence of a Barr body or bodies, what would typically be found on such a test performed on an individual having this condition? Please EXPLAIN why this is the case.
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It has been suggested that looking for the presence of the SRY gene would be a better way of determining whether she is “male” or “female”. Is this accurate? Please explain. Also, does she possess ovaries? Testes? Both? Neither?
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