Can Animals really change their sex just like in the movie Splice?
By Abira Jeoffrey
When animals are born in this world, it is assumed that genes determine whether it is a male or female. However, there exist other factors such as the environment and the temperature that can change the sex of some animals. Do you want to know which animals can change their sex?
Some animals are known to be hermaphroditic such as snails, slugs, and worms which means that they both have female and male organs. Other animals tend to have one set of reproductive organs. In the animal kingdom, animals such as the Clownfish are a type of species where sex change from male to female is common. A school of clownfish always has female on top of the hierarchy. When the female on top dies, the dominant male fish changes its sex to female and takes her place. The change of sex is known as protandry and is a process to ensure survival by always having a pair to mate. This exactly might be the reason why Dren in the movie Splice was able to changes its sex organs from female to male because it wanted to ensure the survival of its species by impregnating Elsa at the end of the movie.
Interesting Fact - Our friend in the movie Finding Nemo lost his mom and his dad should have become a female. Since there were no clownfish in their group Nemo should have matured and mated with his father who turned into a female.
In Splice, Dren is described as having the genetic makeup of Fred and Ginger with the additional element of the human genes of Elsa. Dren was born a female but later on, she changes her sex to a male after her temporary death. During the process of transformation, she had undergone changes psychological. For instance, Dren uses to draw pictures of Clive, and eventually, they had sex.
It is believed that Dren had sex characteristics of intersex. Sex characteristics that don’t fall within the female and male boundaries are known as DSDs (Difference of sex Development). Dren's physical appearance was changing and she began to draw pictures of Elsa instead of Clive. It is believed that Dren might be experiencing Klinefelter Syndrome. Klinefelter Syndrome happens when there are unusual combinations of X and Y chromosomes. In Klinefelter syndrome, there is an extra X chromosome that affects how much testosterone they secrete. Moreover, lower testosterone can affect secondary sex characteristics from developing fully. For example, Dren's breasts had not developed fully which signals that she might be experiencing the Klinefelter syndrome. Furthermore, Dren might also have Turner syndrome whereby her ovaries were not developed as she was not able to get pregnant. Having one X chromosome could also be the reason why her menstrual cycle was never shown in the movie.
Later on, in the movie Dren faced extreme hormonal changes in her body. For example, she showed signs of depression and was beginning to feel isolated, bored, and alone in the barn with no companion. Even the cat was soon taken away from her which further elevated her loneliness.
“Splice is very much about our genetic future and the way science is catching up much of the fiction out there. The centerpiece of the movie is a creature that goes through an evolutionary process.”
As the movie progressed, Dren begins to show some violence by killing a cat and a rabbit. This aggressive and violent behavior could a defense mechanism. The theory of the Clownfish supports this theory because they also change their sex in response to the death of a female. After she dies, she changes her sex to a male and wants to breed with Elsa. Dren forces himself on Else and rapes her. This change to a male might have resulted from the threat she received from Clive who wanted to kill her by drowning her.
Several animals such as the chicken undergo natural sex changes. Chicken has only one functional ovary that might be influenced by certain medical conditions. This may cause a chicken ovary to regress and the dominant right sex organ may begin to grow. This may be the ovary, testes, or both(ovotestis). If it is the testes or ovotestis then it will begin to secrete androgens. The hen doesn’t, however, change fully to a rooster.
In my opinion, one important takeaway point in the movie Splice is that do not mix human and animal DNA because if the ensuing creature ends up being surprisingly attractive, you might destroy your relationship and the ecosystem which might result in your death. Moreover, Splice brings an important point worth noticing is that not every species has the same process of sexual determination or has the ability to change its gender naturally when the need is, just like humans can change their gender identification naturally but not their sex. However, I believe scientific progress and technological advances, one will be able to change the sex of animals in the labs according to human needs.
References
1) Lund, Jennifer, "Depictions of Genetic Research in Film Across Film Genres" (2019). Undergraduate Honors Theses. 13. https://digitalcommons.cwu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1009&context=undergrad_hontheses
2) Camps, M. (2016, June 03). Sex change is also in animals. Retrieved November 30, 2020, from https://allyouneedisbiology.wordpress.com/2016/06/03/sex-change-in-animals/
3) Can animals change their sex? - OneKind Planet Biology. (n.d.). Retrieved November 30, 2020, from https://onekindplanet.org/animal-biology/can-animals-change-their-sex/
4) Pin on Bestiary. (2020, July 28). Retrieved November 30, 2020, from https://www.pinterest.com/pin/361273201358475132/
5) Reyes, M. (2020, July 22). Splice Ending Explained: The Twisted Conclusion To Vincenzo Natali's Movie. Retrieved November 30, 2020, from https://www.cinemablend.com/news/2550749/splice-ending-explained-the-twisted-conclusion-to-vincenzo-natalis-movie
6) Scishow. (2016, October 10). Intersex Across the Animal Kingdom. Retrieved November 30, 2020, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jxs2yHP6K2E
7) Sex change. (2020, October 19). Retrieved November 30, 2020, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sex_change
Photo: Abira Jeoffrey/ “Splice”
Is sex always determined by genetics and fixed from birth in animals?
In the movie Splice, Fred and Ginger were two creatures of the opposite sex who engage in a delicate mating ritual known as imprinting. They both contain genes from various creatures including but not limited to: a horse, a bird, a fish, and a kangaroo, and some kind of plant, and that the pair produced some enteric proteins that are medicinal to livestock. Enteric means “relating to the intestines”. Later on in the movie, they both killed each other as Ginger's sex changes from a female to a male. So it is really possible to change sex in animals? The answer to this interesting question is, Yes!.When animals are born in this world, it is assumed that genes determine whether it is a male or female. However, there exist other factors such as the environment and the temperature that can change the sex of some animals. Do you want to know which animals can change their sex?
Photo: Abira Jeoffrey/ “Splice”
Some animals are known to be hermaphroditic such as snails, slugs, and worms which means that they both have female and male organs. Other animals tend to have one set of reproductive organs. In the animal kingdom, animals such as the Clownfish are a type of species where sex change from male to female is common. A school of clownfish always has female on top of the hierarchy. When the female on top dies, the dominant male fish changes its sex to female and takes her place. The change of sex is known as protandry and is a process to ensure survival by always having a pair to mate. This exactly might be the reason why Dren in the movie Splice was able to changes its sex organs from female to male because it wanted to ensure the survival of its species by impregnating Elsa at the end of the movie.
Interesting Fact - Our friend in the movie Finding Nemo lost his mom and his dad should have become a female. Since there were no clownfish in their group Nemo should have matured and mated with his father who turned into a female.
Photo: Onekindplanet.org/ “Splice”
In Splice, Dren is described as having the genetic makeup of Fred and Ginger with the additional element of the human genes of Elsa. Dren was born a female but later on, she changes her sex to a male after her temporary death. During the process of transformation, she had undergone changes psychological. For instance, Dren uses to draw pictures of Clive, and eventually, they had sex.
It is believed that Dren had sex characteristics of intersex. Sex characteristics that don’t fall within the female and male boundaries are known as DSDs (Difference of sex Development). Dren's physical appearance was changing and she began to draw pictures of Elsa instead of Clive. It is believed that Dren might be experiencing Klinefelter Syndrome. Klinefelter Syndrome happens when there are unusual combinations of X and Y chromosomes. In Klinefelter syndrome, there is an extra X chromosome that affects how much testosterone they secrete. Moreover, lower testosterone can affect secondary sex characteristics from developing fully. For example, Dren's breasts had not developed fully which signals that she might be experiencing the Klinefelter syndrome. Furthermore, Dren might also have Turner syndrome whereby her ovaries were not developed as she was not able to get pregnant. Having one X chromosome could also be the reason why her menstrual cycle was never shown in the movie.
Photo: Abira Jeoffrey/ “Splice”
Photo: Abira Jeoffrey/ “Splice”
Later on, in the movie Dren faced extreme hormonal changes in her body. For example, she showed signs of depression and was beginning to feel isolated, bored, and alone in the barn with no companion. Even the cat was soon taken away from her which further elevated her loneliness.
“Splice is very much about our genetic future and the way science is catching up much of the fiction out there. The centerpiece of the movie is a creature that goes through an evolutionary process.”
Photo: DivantArt/ “Splice”
Several animals such as the chicken undergo natural sex changes. Chicken has only one functional ovary that might be influenced by certain medical conditions. This may cause a chicken ovary to regress and the dominant right sex organ may begin to grow. This may be the ovary, testes, or both(ovotestis). If it is the testes or ovotestis then it will begin to secrete androgens. The hen doesn’t, however, change fully to a rooster.
In my opinion, one important takeaway point in the movie Splice is that do not mix human and animal DNA because if the ensuing creature ends up being surprisingly attractive, you might destroy your relationship and the ecosystem which might result in your death. Moreover, Splice brings an important point worth noticing is that not every species has the same process of sexual determination or has the ability to change its gender naturally when the need is, just like humans can change their gender identification naturally but not their sex. However, I believe scientific progress and technological advances, one will be able to change the sex of animals in the labs according to human needs.
References
1) Lund, Jennifer, "Depictions of Genetic Research in Film Across Film Genres" (2019). Undergraduate Honors Theses. 13. https://digitalcommons.cwu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1009&context=undergrad_hontheses
2) Camps, M. (2016, June 03). Sex change is also in animals. Retrieved November 30, 2020, from https://allyouneedisbiology.wordpress.com/2016/06/03/sex-change-in-animals/
3) Can animals change their sex? - OneKind Planet Biology. (n.d.). Retrieved November 30, 2020, from https://onekindplanet.org/animal-biology/can-animals-change-their-sex/
4) Pin on Bestiary. (2020, July 28). Retrieved November 30, 2020, from https://www.pinterest.com/pin/361273201358475132/
5) Reyes, M. (2020, July 22). Splice Ending Explained: The Twisted Conclusion To Vincenzo Natali's Movie. Retrieved November 30, 2020, from https://www.cinemablend.com/news/2550749/splice-ending-explained-the-twisted-conclusion-to-vincenzo-natalis-movie
6) Scishow. (2016, October 10). Intersex Across the Animal Kingdom. Retrieved November 30, 2020, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jxs2yHP6K2E
7) Sex change. (2020, October 19). Retrieved November 30, 2020, from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sex_change
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