Female mice grow testes after this single DNA tweak

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Small changes in the non-coding part of the genome have a key role in sex determination.

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  1. Rachel Fieldhouse

    1. Rachel Fieldhouse is a reporter for Nature in Sydney, Australia.

Female mouse embryos with a single letter change in a specific region of their DNA develop male reproductive organs, finds a study1 published today in Nature Communications.

References

  1. Abberbock, E. et al. Nature Commun. 17, 3186 (2026).

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  2. Gonen, N. et al. Science 360, 1469–1473 (2018).

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  3. Ridnik, M. et al. Nucleic Acids Res. 52, 5514–5528 (2024).

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