Me, surfacing for air: “You saw that fish? That was a parrot fish that has not transed its gender. They do that, you know. Trans. Their genders. In the wild. It’s natural. It’s free. It’s in the ocean. Not all of them do it and that’s ok it’s up to them. Sometimes cis male parrotfish do it too. It’s all the same, in the end. Ok, I’m going back down.”
It's through the DMRT-1 gene, and we have it too! Here's an article about what it might mean for future trans health procedures, as the gene editing tools available today (the article is from 2023) aren't precise enough to manipulate it safely:
DMRT-1 and what medical transition might look like in the future
Holy shit that is so cool!!! What a wonderful world we live in where fish are providing insight into the next generation of trans healthcare
There are many benefits to being a marine biologist.
