Skip to content
Surprising Science

Hey Presto!

A simple genetic “flick switch” can transform female ovary cells into male testicular ones according to scientists who have been experimenting on mice.
Sign up for the Smarter Faster newsletter
A weekly newsletter featuring the biggest ideas from the smartest people

A simple genetic “flick switch” can transform female ovary cells into male testicular ones according to scientists who have been experimenting on mice. “The battle of the sexes is a never-ending war waged within ourselves as male and female elements of our own bodies continually fight each other for supremacy. This is the astonishing implication of a pioneering study showing that it is possible to flick a genetic switch that turns female ovary cells into male testicular tissue. For decades, the battle of the sexes has been accepted by biologists as a real phenomenon with males and females competing against each other – when their interests do not coincide – for the continued survival of their genes in the next generation. Now scientists have been able to show that a gender war is constantly raging between the genes and cells of one individual.”

Sign up for the Smarter Faster newsletter
A weekly newsletter featuring the biggest ideas from the smartest people

Related
Boys are four times as likely as girls to develop autism. Girls are nearly twice as likely to experience depression. The immune system may be a player in these and other brain-health disparities.

Up Next