Gene switch altered sex orientation of worms


	Gene switch altered sex orientation of worms

Mohir

10-27-2007 7:58 AM

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tags:

sex, dna, genes

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10-28-2007 4:24 AM

abailart

Electrode stimulation of the brain in the hypothalamic region induces rats to change sexual characteristics.

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<div style="margin: 12px 0px; font-family: arial; color: #333333; background: #ffffff; border: solid 4px #e5e5e5; width: 100%; clear: left;"><div class="CM_CTB_Content_Wrap" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;background-color: #ffffff;"><div style="border-bottom: solid 1px #dcdcdc; white-space: nowrap; margin-bottom: 8px; background-color: #eeeeee ;background-image: url(http://www.clipmarks.com/images/source-bg.gif); background-repeat: repeat-x; height: 24px; line-height: 24px; vertical-align: middle; padding-bottom: 4px; color: #666666; font-size: 10px;" ><a href="http://clipmarks.com/clip-to-blog/" title="see clips that are hot right now"><img src="http://content.clipmarks.com/blog_embed/a1754d56-3cfd-4e18-a2db-13424438b025/B75006E8-3407-4986-8EAC-CE2BFAFDC2C4/" alt="" width="19" height="19" border="0" style="vertical-align: middle; margin: 0px 4px; display: inline; border: none; float:none;" /></a>clipped from <a title="http://www.reuters.com/article/oddlyEnoughNews/idUSN2620285520071026?feedType=RSS&feedName=oddlyEnoughNews" href="http://www.reuters.com/article/oddlyEnoughNews/idUSN2620285520071026?feedType=RSS&feedName=oddlyEnoughNews" style="font-size: 11px;">www.reuters.com</a></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.reuters.com/article/oddlyEnoughNews/idUSN2620285520071026?feedType=RSS&feedName=oddlyEnoughNews"><H1>Gene switch altered sex orientation of worms</H1></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.reuters.com/article/oddlyEnoughNews/idUSN2620285520071026?feedType=RSS&feedName=oddlyEnoughNews"><div align="center"><img src="http://content9.clipmarks.com/blog_cache/www.reuters.com/img/4CE831B5-2502-4D71-97C4-2FCB621741BC" alt="Photo" /></div></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.reuters.com/article/oddlyEnoughNews/idUSN2620285520071026?feedType=RSS&feedName=oddlyEnoughNews"><P>CHICAGO (Reuters) - Altering a gene in the brain of female worms changed their sexual orientation, U.S. researchers said on Thursday, making female worms attracted to other females.</P></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.reuters.com/article/oddlyEnoughNews/idUSN2620285520071026?feedType=RSS&feedName=oddlyEnoughNews"><P>The study reinforces the notion that sexual orientation is hard-wired in the brain, said Erik Jorgensen, scientific director of the Brain Institute at the University of Utah.</P></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.reuters.com/article/oddlyEnoughNews/idUSN2620285520071026?feedType=RSS&feedName=oddlyEnoughNews"><P>"They look like girls, but act and think like boys," Utah researcher Jamie White, who worked on the study published in the journal Current Biology, said in a statement.</P></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.reuters.com/article/oddlyEnoughNews/idUSN2620285520071026?feedType=RSS&feedName=oddlyEnoughNews"><P>Researchers in Jorgensen's lab switched on a gene in female worms that makes the body develop male structures, but they only activated the gene in the brain.</P></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.reuters.com/article/oddlyEnoughNews/idUSN2620285520071026?feedType=RSS&feedName=oddlyEnoughNews"><P>As a result, the female worms still had female bodies, but they behaved like males.</P></blockquote><div style="height: 2px; font-size: 2px; background: #dcdcdc; border-bottom: solid 1px #f5f5f5; margin: 2px 4px;"></div><blockquote style="text-align: left; padding: 0px 8px; margin: 4px 0px 8px 0px; background: transparent; border: none;" cite="http://www.reuters.com/article/oddlyEnoughNews/idUSN2620285520071026?feedType=RSS&feedName=oddlyEnoughNews"><P>"It suggests sexual behavior is encoded in our genes" and not caused by extra nerve cells specific to males or females, Jorgensen said in a telephone interview.</P></blockquote></div><div style="margin: 0px 6px 6px 4px;"><table style="font-size: 11px;border-spacing: 0px;padding: 0px;" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tr><td style="background:transparent;border-width:0px;padding:0px;">&nbsp;</td><td align="right" style="background:transparent;border-width:0px;padding:0px;width:107px" width="107"><a href="http://clipmarks.com/share/B75006E8-3407-4986-8EAC-CE2BFAFDC2C4/blog/" title="blog or email this clip"><img src="http://content6.clipmarks.com/images/c2b-foot.png" border="0" alt="blog it" width="107" height="17" style="border-width:0px;padding:0px;margin:0px;" /></a></td></tr></table></div></div>

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