The discovery is said to important because it may mean that a baby’s sex is not solely determined by X and Y chromosomes found in sperm, the Daily Mail reports.
A team of British and German researchers focussed on examining genes known as Sox9 and FoxL2.
They found that when they used a trick to switch off Sox9 in adult female mice, the other gene came into action.
This has the effect of switching the ovary off and it starts effectively turning into a testicle, producing the male hormone testosterone.
Co-author Robin Lovell-Badge from the Medical Research Council’s National Institute for Medical Research in London – which is a collegiate organisation dedicated to studying important questions about the life processes – said we take it for granted that we maintain the sex we are born with.
“But this work shows that the activity of a single gene, FoxL2, is all that prevents adult ovary cells from turning into cells found in the testes,” he added.
Written by Angela Newbury