Discovery of cell free fetal DNA in 1997 has deeply changed the outlook of prenatal diagnosis approaches as most of the clinically established screening tests are not sensitive/specific enough while the current practical diagnostic tests are also invasive in their nature. The most common prenatal screening test is routinely practiced for the diagnosis of Down syndrome (DS) which includes a 10% ...

1. In environmental sex determination (ESD) gender is decided after conception, depending on the environment, rather than being genetically fixed. ESD in plants has been mainly studied in angiosperms, where the dominant form of ESD is sexual lability. Surprisingly, ESD has rarely been studied in homosporous ferns, the only plants in which ESD is the rule, rather than the exception. 2. Here, we ...

We have developed a new method for sex determination based on simultaneous detection of the SRY (sex-determining region Y), STS (steroid sulfatase) and amelogenin (AMELX and AMELY) gene regions and their homologous sequences. The sex of 246 blood samples was correctly determined by this method. An AMELY-deleted male sample, which would have been erroneously considered female based solely on ana...

Testis morphogenesis is a highly orchestrated process involving lineage determination of male germ cells and somatic cell types. Although the origin and differentiation of germ cells are known, the developmental course specific for each somatic cell lineage has not been clearly defined. Here, we construct a comprehensive map of somatic cell lineage progression in the mouse testis. Both supporti...

Animals have evolved a bewildering diversity of mechanisms to determine the two sexes. Studies of sex determination genes--their history and function--in non-model insects and Drosophila have allowed us to begin to understand the generation of sex determination diversity. One common theme from these studies is that evolved mechanisms produce activities in either males or females to control a sh...

struggled for years with parasites that evolve resistance to commonly used drugs. Why should it be any different in animals? Yet as far as we know, no study has ever looked at whether parasites become resistant to the chemicals in the plants that hosts use for protection, though in the Drosophila example referenced above, ethanol did not negatively affect larvae of specialist wasps as strongly ...

Of all the differences that distinguish people, the most obvious and most intriguing one is their sex. The relationship between males and females has had a profound influence on human civilization, causing wars and societal up heavals, and inspiring countless works of art, music and literature. For as long as humans have both struggled with and enjoyed the existence of the two sexes, they have ...

Background: Preterm labor is a major problem in obstetric practice. Rates of preterm birth vary between different populations and ethnic groups. In maternal fetal medicine, gender differences in outcome are often observed. Epidemiologic studies have suggested that the incidence of preterm birth is also higher in pregnancies carrying a male fetus. The purpose of this article is to review the evi...

The dogma that male and female embryos develop in identical fashion until SRY initiates Sertoli cell differentiation in the hitherto bipotential gonad is in need of reevaluation in the light of data that do not fit into this scheme. One of the exceptions that proves the rule of sex determination is true hermaphroditism, the existence of individuals with both testicular and ovarian tissue. Furth...