Molecular Genetic Mechanisms Of Sex Determination In Animals

Gender (sex) is a set of morphological and physiological characteristics of the organism underlying sexual reproduction, the essence of which is reduced to fertilization, i.e. the fusion of male and female gametes (gametes) zygote, which develops into a new organism.Sexual reproduction of a species is considered as one of the mechanisms of its homeostasis. Thanks to this mechanism, numerous species have an evolutionary advantage. In the book, two authors will discuss the types of genetic sex determination and differentiation, mostly in multicellular animal organisms. Sex determination is both genetic and environmental process, the sex of an individual being established through an alternative physiological solution. There are two main postulated mechanisms of sex determination: genetic (GSD, Genetical Sex Determination) and environmental (ESD, Environmental Sex Determination).

Nature employs a wide variety of sex determining mechanisms and it is only comparatively recently that the tools have become available for these to be explored at the cellular and molecular levels. A major landmark was the discovery in 1990 of the SRY gene and the subsequent demonstration of its key role in triggering male sex determination in transgenic mice. This book reviews and discusses our current understanding of the molecular genetic pathways of sex determination, with special emphasis on vertebrates. It features comparisons with other modes of sex determination, consideration of the biology of sexual development and discussion of the evolution of sex-determining mechanisms. By bringing together an international and interdisciplinary group of experts who study many different aspects of the problem, the book highlights much new and exciting work in this area and serves to identify and stimulate promising new research directions.

In this era of accelerated discovery and prolific output, Molecular Genetics of Sex Determination keeps readers abreast of this fields fast-moving biology. Its chapters were completed by experts in eacharea only months before publication. The text is organized into two parts. First, it reviews the basic biology of sex determination and summarizes ground-breaking work in mouse, marsupial, and Drosophila systems. Second, it covers current human genetics, clinical studies, and the syndromes of abnormal sex differentiation. With chapters by preeminent reproductive biologists, this is a capital work. Ohno's law is described by Ohno; the Lyon hypothesis, by Lyon; Sinclair tells how he cloned the testis-determining gene; and so on. Molecular Genetics of Sex Determination is authoritative, comprehensive, and current. It is prime reading for geneticists, developmental biologists, graduate students in these and related fields, clinical researchers, physicians, and medical students. Reviews the genetics of sex determination in 19 up-to-date chapters Features research on sex chromosomes and sex-determining genes Includes abnormalities of sex determination and clinical genetics Written by scientists who pioneered work in this field

Originally published in 1927, this book examines how genetic information is revealed through the physiology, specifically the biological sex, of an animal. Crew explains the genetic mechanism of sex determination, hermaphroditism, sex-reversal and the ways in which an animal population maintains an appropriate male to female ratio.

It's obvious why only men develop prostate cancer and why only women get ovarian cancer. But it is not obvious why women are more likely to recover language ability after a stroke than men or why women are more apt to develop autoimmune diseases such as lupus. Sex differences in health throughout the lifespan have been documented. Exploring the Biological Contributions to Human Health begins to snap the pieces of the puzzle into place so that this knowledge can be used to improve health for both sexes. From behavior and cognition to metabolism and response to chemicals and infectious organisms, this book explores the health impact of sex (being male or female, according to reproductive organs and chromosomes) and gender (one's sense of self as male or female in society). Exploring the Biological Contributions to Human Health discusses basic biochemical differences in the cells of males and females and health variability between the sexes from conception throughout life. The book identifies key research needs and opportunities and addresses barriers to research. Exploring the Biological Contributions to Human Health will be important to health policy makers, basic, applied, and clinical researchers, educators, providers, and journalists-while being very accessible to interested lay readers.

Sexual reproduction is a fundamental aspect of life. It is defined by the occurrence of meiosis and the fusion of two gametes of different sexes or mating types. Sex-determination mechanisms are responsible for the sexual fate and development of sexual characteristics in an organism, be it a unicellular alga, a plant, or an animal. In many cases, sex determination is genetic: males and females have different alleles or different genes that specify their sexual morphology. In animals, this is often accompanied by chromosomal differences. In other cases, sex may be determined by environmental (e.g. temperature) or social variables (e.g. the size of an organism relative to other members of its population). Surprisingly, sex-determination mechanisms are not evolutionarily conserved but are bewilderingly diverse and appear to have had rapid turnover rates during evolution. Evolutionary biologists continue to seek a solution to this conundrum. What drives the surprising dynamics of such a fundamental process that always leads to the same outcome: two sex types, male and female? The answer is complex but the ongoing genomic revolution has already greatly increased our knowledge of sex-determination systems and sex chromosomes in recent years. This novel book presents and synthesizes our current understanding, and clearly shows that sex-determination evolution will remain a dynamic field of future research. The Evolution of Sex Determination is an advanced, research level text suitable for graduate students and researchers in genetics, developmental biology, and evolution.