Is there any inherent reason why the body becomes female unless “told” by the Y-chromosome to be male as opposed to the other way around?
In: Biology
Contrary to the traditional belief that human embryos “default” to female in fetal development, recent studies suggest that the development of both male and female characteristics is an active process.
Every developing embryo, regardless of its sex, initially contains both male and female reproductive tracts, known as the wolffian duct and the müllerian duct, respectively.
In the presence of testosterone and the anti-müllerian hormone (AMH) gene products from the Y chromosome, the female müllerian ducts are destroyed.
However, a protein called COUP-TFII has been identified as a key player in actively eliminating the wolffian duct in a developing female embryo, giving it female characteristics.
This suggests that the development of female sex organs does not proceed by “default” but requires the coordinated action of specific signaling proteins.
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