By Gina Gomez
Mar 15, (THAINDIAN NEWS) A new research that was undertaken by scientists at the Roslin Institute and the University of Edinburgh has provided revealing insights into the mystery which renders some chickens to show male features on one side of the their body while the other side of their body showed female traits. According to the new study, bird cells are not necessarily programmed by hormones unlike the mammals. The findings of the research were recently published in the scientific journal, Nature.

Earlier it was believed by scientists that hormones are instrumental in deciding whether the cells would develop into male of female specific manner. However, the previous conception has been completely brushed away by the findings of the new study which points out that half of the body of these gynandromorphous chickens consist of male cells while the other half comprises of mostly female cells. The revelations has also come as a surprise to the scientists of the Scotland based research facility where the experiments were carried out.

While reacting to the findings, study researcher Michael Clinton reiterated that the study overturned the preconceived notion about how the sexual characteristics were determined in birds. Moreover, the researcher also stated that the factors that determine the sexual developments in birds are present in the male and female cells and the differences arise from the manner in which the genes in the sex chromosomes are expressed. It has also been emphasized that the findings of the study can be considered to be a significant development for understanding how sexual developments takes place in birds.