It's Not Just About the Genes Meet the Hidden Directors of Sex Development
🧬 Decoding the Silent Genome of Sex Determination 🧬
A fascinating new study led by Dr. Nitzan Gonen and her lab reveals how non-coding regions of DNA, long overlooked, play a critical role in guiding whether embryonic gonads develop into testis or ovary.
By combining novel transgenic mouse models with high-resolution genomic mapping, the team traced the evolution of gene expression and chromatin accessibility during the critical window of sex determination. One of the most compelling insights is that two transcription factors, EMX2 and LHX9, traditionally associated with early gonadal development, may also direct cells toward an ovarian fate, suggesting a far broader role than previously thought.
Why this matters?
Despite significant advances in genetics, more than half of individuals with Differences of Sex Development (DSD) still receive no genetic diagnosis. This research offers a window into the 98% of the genome that doesn’t code for proteins but may hold the key to those unanswered cases.
A major step forward in understanding how fate is written not just in genes but in the regulatory script that surrounds them.
Huge credit to @Nitzan Gonen and colleagues for this significant contribution.
