Friday, August 3, 2012

The determination of the sex of the baby: Science, nature and GOD

Until fairly recently, it was thought that a baby’s sex was determined by the mother’s cells. That was why, in many cultures, women were blamed when they gave birth to girls. However, this belief was negated with the arrival of the Quran where it is stated that masculinity or femininity is created out of “a drop of semen which has been ejected”.
“He has created both sexes, male and female from a drop of semen which has been ejected.” (The Quran, 53:45-46)
With the development of genetics science and molecular biology in the 20th century, Scientists have validated the accuracy of this information given by the Quran. It is now understood that the sex is determined by the sperm cells from the male, and that the female does not play the main role in this process. 
Chromosomes are the main elements in determining sex. Two of the 46 chromosomes that determine the structure of a human being are identified as sex chromosomes. These two chromosomes are called “XY” in males, and “XX” in females, because the shapes of the chromosomes resemble these letters. The Y chromosome carries characteristics of masculinity, while the X chromosome carries those of femininity. In the mother’s egg, there is only the X chromosome, which determines female characteristics. In the semen from the father, there are sperms that includes either X or Y chromosomes. Therefore, the sex of the baby depends on whether the sperm fertilizing the mother’s egg (ovum) contains an X or Y chromosome. For example, if an X chromosome from the female unites with a sperm that contains X chromosomes, then the baby is a female. If it unites with the sperm that contains a Y chromosome, the baby is male. In other words, as stated in the verse, the factor determining the sex of the baby is the semen which comes from the father. This knowledge, which could not have been known at the time when the Quran was revealed, is evidence to the fact that the Quran is the word of God.

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