Sex-controlled Character

sex-controlled character, also called Sex-influenced Character, a genetically controlled feature that may appear in organisms of both sexes but is expressed to a different degree in each. The character seems to act as a dominant in one sex and a recessive in the other. An example of such a sex-controlled character is gout in humans; about 80 percent of men inheriting the gene develop gout, but only about 12 percent of women bearing the gene are affected. Other examples are genetically caused abnormalities such as harelip and cleft palate, which occur more frequently in men than in women, and spina bifida, which has a higher incidence in female fetuses.