Discuss how the internal sexual organs develop differently from the gonads.

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Up until the sixth gestational week, both male and female embryos have identical primordial gonads that have the capacity to develop into ovaries, the female gonads, or testes, the male gonads. At about six weeks' gestation, a gene on the short arm of the Y chromosome, known as the SRY, is expressed in male embryos. Testis-determining factor, the protein encoded by the SRY gene, switches on additional genes that cause the primordial gonads to develop into testes. In female embryos, which lack the SRY gene and its ability to produce testis-determining factor, alternate genes, including Wnt4 (located on Chromosome 1) and DAX1 (located on the X chromosome) guide the development of the primordial gonad into ovaries.The differentiation of the internal organs follows the development of the gonads. Until about the third gestational month in humans, both male and female embryos possess a male Wolffian system and a female Müllerian system. In males, the Wolffian system will develop into the seminal vesicles, the vas deferens, and the prostate. In females, the Müllerian system will develop into the uterus, the upper portion of the vagina, and the fallopian tubes.