How does a man’s chromosome set differ from that of a woman?

While the male Y chromosome and the female X chromosome differ in size, they also differ in the number of working genes on the chromosome. The X chromosome contains over 1000 active genes, and the Y chromosome has less than 100 active genes. Of the active genes on the X chromosome, 200-300 are unique to sex, so only 700 to 800 working genes are shared and active in both men and women.

The actual size of the chromosomes differs between males and females. It was found that several pairs of chromosomes in males are larger than in females when the chromosomes of sheep were examined.