Do males rely on female hormones?
The difference between men and women could be getting smaller, according to a paper that describes a function for female hormones (oestrogens) in the male reproductive tract. Mice that lack the gene for the a form of the oestrogen receptor are infertile, and this turns out to be due to a defect in the process by which sperm are prepared for storage in the testis. Usually, storage involves resorption of fluid from around the sperm, but, in the knockout mice, more fluid is secreted. So the effects of female hormones in males may actually be widespread.
