Repeated co-option of HMG-box genes for sex determination in brown algae and animals. (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38513029/)

These scientists wanted to understand how some organisms, like brown algae, determine if they are male or female. They found that in brown algae, there is a special gene called the HMG-box gene that decides if an organism will be male. This gene is like a secret code that tells the algae to be a boy. They discovered that this gene works in a similar way to genes that determine sex in animals. This is important because it shows how different organisms can use the same genetic tools to do similar things, even though they are very different from each other. It's like using the same key to unlock different doors in different houses.

Luthringer R., Raphalen M., Guerra C., Colin S., Martinho C., Zheng M., Hoshino M., Badis Y., Lipinska AP., Haas FB., Barrera-Redondo J., Alva V., Coelho SM. Repeated co-option of HMG-box genes for sex determination in brown algae and animals. Science. 2024 Mar 22;383(6689):eadk5466. doi: 10.1126/science.adk5466. Epub 2024 Mar 22.