Discover more factors determining the sex of the fetus

According to Australian researchers, they have discovered a new element that determines the future sex of the child. These are enhancers that affect the activity of genes that determine male or female sex.

According to Nature Communications, scientists at Murdoch Research Institute, Melbourne, Australia, have discovered a new factor that determines the future sex of the child. Scientists have focused on the 'regulatory factor' affecting the activity of genes that determine whether a boy or girl is.

Brittany Croft, author of the study, explains that the sex of a child is determined by the composition of chromosomes when conceiving. As you know, an embryo with two X chromosomes will become a girl and an embryo with an XY chromosome is a boy. The Y chromosome carries an important gene called SRY , thus affecting another gene, SOX9, which causes the testes to grow in the embryo. A high level of expression of this SOX9 gene is necessary for normal development of the testicle, but if there is a problem in the activity of the SOX9 gene or its content is low, the testicle will not develop, will causing problems in the sex development of children.

The human genome has about one million enhancers that control about 22,000 genes.

It is known that 90% of human DNA includes what is called junk DNA - which does not encode protein chains, but contains important regulatory factors that increase or decrease the activity of genes called processes. self-enhancement - a short piece of DNA that can be attached to proteins - activators, which increase the transcriptional ability of a particular gene. It is the disorder in the activity of the enhancement sequences that can lead to the birth of a child with deviant sexual development.

The study of Australian scientists aims to understand how sequences enhance the regulation of SOX9 genes. Andrew Sinclair, co-author of the study, shared that scientists have found three high-order sequences that activate SOX9 genes at high levels in XY embryos, leading to normal development of the testes and male gender.

Scientists note that during the study, they identified patients with XX chromosomes, meaning they had to become women, but due to additional copies of the sequences of enhancement This (high level of SOX9 gene expression), so these people have testicles. In addition, the scientists found patients with a set of XY lost these SOX9 booster sequences (low levels of SOX9 expression), so they developed ovaries instead of testicles. . According to experts, the gender change of children in such cases is due to the acquisition or loss of important enhancement sequences that regulate the SOX9 gene.

Scientists claim that in the human genome there are about one million enhancers that control about 22,000 genes. These enhancement sequences are located in areas called junk DNA, so the key to diagnosing many disorders can be found in junk DNA, where science still has little research.