How sex is decided: new Max Planck Research Group probes the evolution of sex determination
Qiaowei Pan heads the new “Insect Sex Determination and Development” research group at the Max Planck Institute for Biology Tübingen.
At the beginning of 2026, Qiaowei (Miya) Pan joined the Max Planck Institute for Biology Tübingen as Max Planck Research Group Leader. Her group’s work will complement the institute’s broad spectrum of scientific research by exploring one of biology’s most fundamental and remarkably diverse developmental processes: sex determination.
Beyond sex chromosomes: alternative routes to sexual development
Her research group investigates the molecular basis and evolutionary dynamics of sex determination, a developmental program that is ubiquitous across eukaryotes yet extraordinarily diverse in its underlying mechanisms. While most work in this field has traditionally focused on organisms with sex chromosomes, many species actually determine their sex without them. “We focus on these alternative systems, especially haplodiploidy, which has evolved repeatedly from ancestors with sex chromosomes in many animal lineages,” says Miya. “By studying haplodiploid insects such as ants and bees, we aim to establish a complementary framework for understanding how new sex-determining signals emerge, how they interface with conserved downstream developmental pathways, and why sex determination mechanisms turn over so frequently over evolutionary time.”
What Miya finds fascinating is the striking contrast between a deeply conserved developmental outcome - male or female differentiation - and the extraordinary diversity of molecular mechanisms that achieve it. “Haplodiploid systems continue to surprise us with previously unknown ways of solving the same developmental problem,” she says.
From fundamental biology to ecological relevance
Beyond their conceptual importance, these systems also have broader ecological and societal relevance. Many hymenopteran species are key pollinators, as well as significant pests or invasive species. Understanding how sex is determined in these organisms has implications for conservation and population management, linking fundamental questions in gene regulation and evolution to issues that matter for ecosystems and society.
Welcome to the institute Miya!
“We are excited to welcome Miya to the Max Planck Institute for Biology in Tübingen” says Susana Coelho, Managing Director of the Max Planck Institute for Biology. “Her research on the evolution and molecular mechanisms of sex determination is an excellent fit with our institute’s focus on understanding fundamental biological processes.“
Qiaowei (Miya) Pan earned her PhD in evolutionary biology at the University of Rennes in France and conducted postdoctoral research in Lausanne and Mainz before joining the Max Planck Institute for Biology Tübingen. She is particularly excited about leading her own group at the institute because of its “diversity of scientific backgrounds, organisms, and levels of biological inquiry. This environment creates constant opportunities to learn, to be inspired, and to build collaborations. I am excited to develop my group in a place where mechanistic, evolutionary, and organismal perspectives coexist and can be combined to address ambitious questions.”