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Male mice grow ovaries instead of testes if they are missing a small region of DNA that doesn't contain any genes, finds a new paper published in Science.
The study, led by researchers at the Francis Crick Institute, could help explain disorders of sex development in humans, at least half of which have an unknown genetic cause.
Mammals will develop ovaries and become females unless the early sex organs have enough of a protein called SOX9 at a key stage in their development. SOX9 causes these organs to become testes, which then direct the rest of the embryo to become male.
Sex reversal following deletion of a single distal enhancer of Sox9 (DOI: 10.1126/science.aas9408) (DX)
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Non-Coding DNA Changes the Genitals You're Born With
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Everything you know is wrong!
(Score: 2, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 04 2018, @04:42AM (3 children)
No it doesn't.
Genes are encoded in DNA, but not all DNA is coding for genes.
Genes are distinct sequences of DNA that do one or more particular things.
Here's a way of thinkingof this...
Back in the day we used to use cassette tapes to save and load applications.
On my computer, you could store multiple programs on a single tape simply by leaving a 30 second gap between the programs.
When you wanted to load a new program you would type something like "LOAD TAPE" and then press play. It would wait until the whitespace was over to start trying to load.
DNA is tape, genes are programs and data.
DNA can contain coding (code & data), and whitespace.
What the article is saying is that the whitespace gap between the programs determines expression of SOX9 protein.
It's as though the tape hiss is telling the computational machinery to run SOX9 until it gets to the next program.
Or more likely SOX9 is some sort of default and it runs any time whitespace is encountered, otherwise the machinery runs the app it encounters.
The cellular machinery at work is fantastically complex and even involves encryption
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/06/180620094734.htm [sciencedaily.com]
(Score: 3, Touché) by frojack on Wednesday July 04 2018, @04:46AM (2 children)
Can I get that in a car analogy?
No, you are mistaken. I've always had this sig.
(Score: 1) by shrewdsheep on Wednesday July 04 2018, @09:16AM (1 child)
The Sox9 enhancer mentioned in TFA is the gear-shift for the Sox9 gene. Put it into low gear -> small male genitals, put it into high gear -> large male genitals. Remove it -> no male genitals.
BTW if you play with the words junk DNA, gene, sex organ w/o giving definitions, you get funny result.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday July 04 2018, @02:45PM
Or... The Fiat was caught porking the toaster.