The Key West citizen. [volume] (Key West, Fla.) 1879-current, 1953-06-01
Skin Test To Tell True Sex
Reported To ANA Convention
BY ALTON L. BLAKEsLEE


Associated Press Science Reporter
NEW YORK IA skin test to
tell true sex was reported today
at the opening Of the American
Medical Associations annual con-
vention.
It tells whether q baby Of mixed
up sex, or hermaphrodite, is really
boy or girl. It takes q new kind
of look at cells taken from the
skin or bone-marrow Of the infant,
to see If the cells are male or f.
male in their heredity.
The answer tells whether the
child should be made into and
reared Is q boy, or Is q girl.
This method, plus others prom.
ising new cell clues to cancer, men,
tai illness, and allersies, was de-
scribed by DR.. c. M. Pomerat, of
the University Of Texas, Galveston.
Sometimes babies are born hav.
ing both male and female charac.
teristics. Their true sex is in doubt
and tragedies come because they
are wrongly reared as boy or girl.
They may have one female sex
gland-an ovary to produce eggs
and one male sex glands tests
to produce sperm. The question is,
are they predominantly boy or
girl7
The answer can BE- had by look.
ing at the chromosomes of ord.
mary body cells. Each cell Of the
body contains chromosomes, the
neckace-shaped structures carry
ing the genes or units Of heredity.
There's a difference between the
male and female chromosomes In
any cell. Male cells contain two
chromosomes Of unequal length.
In females, the sex chromosomes
form an identical pair.
DR.. T. c. Hsu, an associate Of
DR.. Pomerat, discovered a way of
making tightly packed chrome
somes inside q cell separate, 90
they can be seen clearly, and be
counted and examined. Hsu found
the chromosomes will spread out
if there is DO, or little salt in the
fluid which is added to cells to
keep them alive.
A look at the chromosomes in
skin or bone-marrow cells can then
tell a surgeon whether he should
remove the ovary Of tests Of the
doubtful-sex baby to make the child
a complete boy or complete girl,
to give the infant the best chance
for q happy, normal life.
This is just one possibility In
amazing research BY DR.. Pomerat
and associates.
He can take any kind Of human
body cells, and keep them alive
and growing In glass TASKS. He
can take motion pictures, under 4
microscope, to see what happens
inside these fantastically tiny en-.
gines OF all life. New differences
may be found between cancer cells
and healthy cells.
The movies are made by snap.
ping one picture every few min.
utes, then running off this film at
ordinary motion picture speed.
The events taking two hours to hap
pen inside . cell are seen within
one minute.
One study could give new an.
swers to control Of allergies and
asthma. Cells taken from inside
the human nose are kept alive In.
side glass TASKS. Then some hay.
feverish pollen Is added to the fluid.
The nose cells 80 into violent, pro.
testing reactions. The scientists
hope to learn why and how they
react, how their protests can be
controlled to relieve aIlergies or
asthma.
Nerve cells taken from human
brains can be kept alive In this
same way, to look for differences
in brain cells Of healthy persons
and those mentally sick.
Movies Of nerve cells show that
q kind Of glue for nerve cells ac.
tually has a rhythmic, puIsating
activity. Why these nerve eompon.
eFlts have this neaion n not ga