The HUGODECA project is a European funded research initiative investigating how human gonads (either an ovary or a testis) develop in the embryo in order to understand how the initially bipotential organ differentiates in a sex specific manner.

Sex determination is the process that triggers the development of either male or female reproductive organs.

By working on the understanding of this process, researchers also hope to improve our knowledge of congenital conditions affecting sex development, namely patients with Differences of Sex Development (DSD).

This project gathers 9 teams of researchers, clinicians and companies working all around Europe together.