The Hormonal Control of Sexual Development

The objectives of this article as I saw them were, (1) to show how fetal gonads acquire the ability to function as endocrine organs, and (2), to show the mechanisms by which the endocrine secretions modulate male development. The researchers went through an extremely extensive explanation of the formation of the sexual phenotypes by detailing the development of germ cells. They explained how women's and men's gonads appear identical until Leydig cells, which synthesize testosterone, appear in …

…a non-vital stain of some sort to distinguish the protein from the DNA. The development of one's sex is therefore far more than just a genetic decision, it is (once again) a complex cascade of hormones acting on receptors. These receptors go on to activate effector molecules which activate target molecules. If at any point this system is disrupted in any way, one either has the underdevelopment or incorrect development of the phenotypical gonadal characteristics.