Talk:Lecture - Genital Development

From Embryology


2015

ECHO360 Recording
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Lecture 14 -


2013

Lecture Date: 2013-09-24 Lecture Time: 16:00 Venue: Biomedical Theatre E Speaker: Steve Palmer

The Powerpoint file used to present this lecture is available as a pdf document HERE

The audio will be available via the Echo system

Important Events

  • The first event in sexual differentiation is the development of the indifferent gonad - sometimes called the bipotential gonad or just "genital ridge"
  • The first observable sign of sex-specific differentiation in the male is the appearance of testis cords, which are the precursors of the adult seminiferous tubules.
  • The first observable sign of sex-specific differentiation in the female is the entry of the germ cells into meiosis.
  • Males and females develop both sets of ducts - those that are used in the male and those that are used in the female - and therefore have the potential to develop either way.
  • Sex-specific differentiation of the internal ducts and the external genitalia is entirely controlled by hormones. Therefore, the important defining event in sexual differentiation is whether the gential ridge develops as an ovary or a testis. All other events follow on from that decision.

Reveiw of mammalian sex determination