Mice gender works awfully similar to human gender. Two chromosomes, either an XX or an XY, with some very rare exceptions such as trisomy examples. Like humans, an XX pair will develop into a female, while an XY pair will develop into a male. This is because the XX results in a suppression of Sox9, which leads to the development of ovaries. In the male mice, Sox9 is not suppressed, which triggers the testis to develop. By modifying the genomes that suppress Sox9 on the X chromosome, if done for both of the X chromosomes in a female mouse, the female mouse will develop male features such as a penis and testes. Though, this is not true is the modification is only done to one X chromosome, implying the suppression is dominant. Like most experiments, we test these factors on mice to theorize possible implications on human development and life. According to the article, approximately 50% of people with disorders affecting their sexual development do not have a genetic diagnosis. Which is likely because many tests look only at the part of the genome that codes for proteins, aka the coding sequence codes. This study shows the importance of noncoding sequences, and how it very much can have an effect on an organism's sexual development. I take particular interest in this, as a family member of mine is undergoing transitional therapy, to convert from a male to a female, while retaining their XY chromosomes. Additionally, this shows how genetics is still a very unknown field, as things quite literally named after their ability to not code for anything, clearly, code for something.
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interesting because it highlights how noncoding DNA can strongly influence sexual development, showing that genetics is far more complex than scientists once believed.
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