Molecular genetics of sex determination and gonad development

Funded Activity Summary

Intersex disorders - ranging in severity from hypospadias (misplacement of the urethral opening) to complete sex reversal - are surprisingly common, with estimates as high as 4% of all live births. These disorders usually result in infertility, genital abnormalities, gender mis-assignment and long-term psychological trauma. The cause of these problems is most often the failure of the delicate network of gene regulation that is responsible for proper development of testes or ovaries in the embryo. This research program will identify genes important for sex determination and development of the gonads, find out how these genes function and interact, and discover how they contribute to cases of aberrant sexual development in humans. Australia boasts three of the foremost international researchers in sex determination. Their contributions have been fundamental to the advancement of the field, including the identification and characterization of the master testis determining gene and other genes critical for sex determination. They now propose to pool their expertise in human molecular genetics, mouse developmental biology and protein chemistry to bring spectacular advances in our knowledge of human sexual development and its associated disorders. This information will be used to bring improved clinical care to patients withdisorders of sexual development.

Funded Activity Details

Start Date: 01-01-2005

End Date: 01-01-2009

Funding Scheme: Programs

Funding Amount: $4,580,898.00

Funder: National Health and Medical Research Council

Research Topics

ANZSRC Field of Research (FoR)

Developmental Genetics (incl. Sex Determination)

ANZSRC Socio-Economic Objective (SEO)

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Other Keywords

Developmental genetics | Gonad development | Ovary development | Sex determination | Testis development

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