Scientists Overturn Assumptions of Sex Selection in Chickens

RedTracker| Ignoring wisecracks that half-male, half-female chickens have the best of both worlds, scientists have overturned their understanding of sexual development in birds.

Previously, scientists believed that sex chromosomes in birds control whether a testis or ovary forms, with sexual traits then determined by hormones. Not true.

The study from The Roslin Institute at the University of Edinburgh, is published in the journal Nature and claims that differences between male and female cells control the development of sexual traits.

Dr Michael Clinton, who led the study, said: “This research has completely overturned what we previously thought about how sexual characteristics were determined in birds. We now believe that the major factors determining sexual development are built into male and female cells and derive from basic differences in how sex chromosome genes are expressed. Our study opens a new avenue for our understanding of sexual development in birds. via Science Daily

For years medical researchers have assumed that even in humans, female organs are essentially carbon copies of men.  Given men as the priority gender, men scientists and researchers studied male bodies.

With existing evidence that organs such as the heart and brain are intrinsically different in male and female birds, new research may provide a model for understanding the molecular basis for gender differences in other organisms. Read on at Science Daily: Scientists solve puzzle of chickens that are half male and half female.