Parents who have this gene may be more likely to have a girl

Two little girls are shown sat on a playroom floor with some toys in front of them. The girl on the left of the image has her arm around the other girl and is looking down at the floor. The girl on the right is looking at the camera.

Scientists have discovered a gene variant that could make some parents more likely to have girls than boys.

In the new study, researchers analyzed the genomes of around 450,000 males and females in the U.K. who contributed genetic and health data to the U.K. Biobank — a large, publicly available database.