[AbiDrew85]

Very interesting articles. While I was aware the female sex is sort of the 'default path' for developing embryos, I had no idea the body has to jump through so many hoops to develop and keep male parts. I'm not sure how this knowledge makes me feel. On the one hand it feels somewhat comforting to know our physical sex isn't as static as we used to think, on the other hand I feel bewildered about the thought of the body being in conflict about what physical sex it should be.

Actually calling female sex the "default" path isn't quite entirely accurate either. Female sexing has to be maintained just as much as male sexing. I think the misunderstanding comes from the fact that the "default" has no external genitalia and does have a slight cleft... but it doesn't have any female functionality. It has no sexual functionality at all.

You're not the only one who I keep seeing this misunderstanding from either... I see it everywhere. Constantly. And not even just on this site.

What they've found that's really the most interesting though is that all that's REALLY important for physical sexing is this one gene. If it's Foxl2 you're female. If it's Dmrt1 you're male. This explains EVERYTHING. It particularly explains sexual chimerism. What happens if some of your cells have Foxl2 and some have Dmrt1? You're a sexual chimera. What happens if you are XY but have Foxl2? You develop and appear female, but you're generally going to never have children. XX but Dmrt1? Develop and appear male but you're generally going to be impotent.

This also has the potential to help us, as I previously mentioned, attain the ability to perform full sex reversals. Probably within the next few decades.