The origins of ovaries and testes (IMAGE)

University of Pennsylvania

The origins of ovaries and testes

Caption

Studying embryonic development in mice and monkeys, researchers led by Kotaro Sasaki of Penn Vet discovered that a layer of cells known as the posterior intermediate mesoderm (far left) gives rise to the bipotential gonad (far right) early on in mammalian development. The bipotential gonad typically develops into either ovaries or testes. Understanding the molecular details of this process could help in intervening in disorders of sexual development.

Credit

Courtesy of Kotaro Sasaki

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