Book excerpt: Nature employs a wide variety of sex determining mechanisms and it is only comparatively recently that the tools have become available for these to be explored at the cellular and molecular levels. A major landmark was the discovery in 1990 of the SRY gene and the subsequent demonstration of its key role in triggering male sex determination in transgenic mice. This book reviews and discusses our current understanding of the molecular genetic pathways of sex determination, with special emphasis on vertebrates. It features comparisons with other modes of sex determination, consideration of the biology of sexual development and discussion of the evolution of sex-determining mechanisms. By bringing together an international and interdisciplinary group of experts who study many different aspects of the problem, the book highlights much new and exciting work in this area and serves to identify and stimulate promising new research directions.