Gentlemen, your balls and brain are strikingly similar

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2021-06-02 09:01

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Finally, a scientific explanation for why so many men appear to do most of their thinking with their two veg! The tissues that make up the testes and the brain share numerous molecular features, Portuguese and UK scientists say, and they produce many of the same proteins. The common proteins are mainly involved in development, the movement of material within and between cells, and brain-associated biological processes, they add. Even in terms of their activity, the two organs share many characteristics, the scientists say. They suggest the involvement of both brain and balls in the evolution of new species may explain the surprising similarities.

Media release

From: The Royal Society

Brain and testis: more alike than ever thought?

Several strands of evidence indicate the presence of marked similarities between brain and testis. Understanding these similarities and their implications has become a topic of interest among the scientific community. Numerous common molecular features are evident when these tissues are compared, which is reflected in the huge number of common proteins. At the functional level, human neurons and sperm also share a number of characteristics. The common proteins are mainly involved in development, exocytosis, and brain-associated biological processes. We conclude that human brain and testis share several biochemical characteristics which could be associated with their involvement in the speciation process.

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Journal/
conference: Royal Society Open Biology

Research:Paper

Organisation/s: University of Aveiro, Portugal

Funder: Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), European Union, QREN, FEDER and COMPETE for funding iBiMED (UIDB/04501/2020, POCI-01-0145-FEDER-007628 and UID/BIM/04501/2019).

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