-Submitted by David Drumm (Nal), Guest Blogger
I will focus on one of her statements, you can read the rest of her cluelessness in the links below.
Hoover writes:
Every human embryo begins with two X chromosomes, but in order to be a male, one of the X chromosomes turns into a Y chromosome.
That is false. Every human embryo has either an X-X pair of chromosomes or an X-Y pair of chromosomes. The particular pair is determined at fertilization.
Although there are Christian websites that repeat this falsehood, I think its origins can be traced to the old adage “all human embryos start out as female.” This depends on your definition of female.
For the first 40 days after fertilization, all human embryos develop much the same. This is why males have nipples. Then the sex-determining gene on the Y chromosome, called SRY (Sex-determining Region of the Y chromosome) gets into the act. In the complex process that is embryonic development, if the expression of the SRY gene is inhibited, it is possible to have a female with an X-Y pair of chromosomes.
When I hear someone say that marriage should be between a male and a female, I want to ask them to specify what characteristics that a female should possess to be considered a female. The determination of what constitutes a male and what constitutes a female is a lot more complicated than they think.
H/T: The Evolving Scientist, Pharyngula.