Next to breathing, and food and water consumption, sex is the defining physiological system essential for the maintenance of complex life. Unlike the former two systems many aspects of sex remain controversial, including issues such as the explanation of the evolutionary advantage of sex and the social implications of sex and gender. Even the meaning of the words sex and gender are the subject of legal, political and medical disagreements.
This talk will cover the evolutionary advantages of sexual reproduction and how sexual development occurs.
It will focus on one step in this pathway: testosterone and its target the androgen receptor (AR). The effect of human mutations in the AR will be displayed.
Murine models are used to study endocrinology “in reverse” by deleting the AR and measuring the effect. This was achieved in both global and tissue specific modes and helped to define the physiological function of the AR in specific tissues, including bone and muscle.
The place of testosterone therapy in aging men will be briefly reviewed, and finally gender affirming hormone therapy will be highlighted.