Innowacje genderowe. Studium przypadku: Nauka. Genetyka różnicowania płciowego
The Genetics of Sex Determination: Rethinking Concepts and Theories

Summary/Abstract: The Challenge Research into sex determination formerly focused primarily on testis development, while active processes controlling ovarian development were largely ignored (Veitia, 2010). In fact, ovarian development had long been considered a “default” or “passive” developmental outcome of the bipotential gonad. Method: Rethinking Concepts and Theories The notion of a “default” female pathway focused research on testis differentiation, and, after the discovery of Sry, on the downstream targets of Sry, e.g. Sox9. In contrast, the ovarian pathway was explored less. Scientific models portraying the female developmental pathway as a “default” were inconsistent with lack of ovarian development in Turner’s syndrome, among other issues. Gendered Innovations: 1. Recognition of Ovarian Determination as an Active Process. Current research is identifying the active mechanisms required to produce an ovary (Veitia, 2010; Uhlenhaut et al., 2009). These investigations have enhanced knowledge about testis development and how the ovarian and testicular pathways interact. 2. Discovery of Ongoing Ovarian and Testis Maintenance. Research into the ovarian pathway revealed that the transcriptional regulator FOXL2 must be expressed in adult ovarian follicles to prevent “transdifferentiation of an adult ovary to a testis” (Uhlenhaut et al., 2009). Subsequently, researchers found that the transcription factor DMRT1 is needed to prevent reprogramming of testicular Sertoli cells into granulosa cells (Matson et al., 2011). 3. New language to Describe Gonadal Differentiation. Researchers have dismissed the concept of “default” and emphasize that, while female and male developmental pathways are divergent, the construction of an ovary (like the construction of a testis or any other organ) is an active process. Each pathway requires complex cascades of gene products in proper dosages and at precise times.

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