The Mysteries of Sexual Identity: The Germ Cell's Perspective
Judith Kimble1* and
David C. Page2
Animal germ cells differentiate as sperm or eggs, depending
on their sex. Somatic signals tell germ cells whether they reside
in a male or female body, but how do germ cells interpret those
external cues to acquire their own sexual identity? A critical
aspect of a germ cell's sexual puzzle is that the sperm/egg
decision is closely linked to the cell-cycle decision between
mitosis and meiosis. Molecular studies have begun to tease apart
the regulators of both decisions, an essential step toward understanding
the regulatory logic of this fundamental question of germ cell
biology.
2 Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Whitehead Institute, and Department of Biology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA 02142, USA.
* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: jekimble{at}wisc.edu
