12 May 2017
How do the two sexes come about? The answer to this question is more complex than one would expect. Though sexual reproduction invariably depends on the presence of male and female individuals, the genetic basis of sex determination varies strongly between species. This diversity is particularly evident in houseflies. This insect order provides an excellent model to study how different sex-determining mechanisms have evolved. Research groups in Zurich, Groningen and Göttingen now have important new findings to report in the prestigious scientific journal Science. They have identified the gene for maleness in houseflies.
8 February 2017
The left side of the spinal cord matures slightly faster than the right side in human embryos of four to eight weeks age. This is the earliest left-right difference of development in the human nervous system yet discovered. An international team led by scientists from the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics and Donders Institute for Brain, Cognition and Behaviour revealed this by studying the activity levels of many genes.
