07 May Males and Females Undergo Separate But Interconnected Evolution
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Dr. Gershoni
Moran Gershoni PhD
Senior intern, Molecular Genetics
Weizmann Institute of Science
Ben Gurion University
Rehovot Area, Israel
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: The background for this study is the question why “bad” is common? More specifically, we asked why the prevalence of some unfitted traits, like diseases and infertility, is sometimes much higher than intuitively expected? Several years ago we hypothesized that, at least in some of the cases, the relatively high prevalence of a morbid phenotype is directly arises from the fact that humans are composed of two ‘kinds’, men and women. This is since men and women share nearly the same genome but differently utilize some of it. Thus, the very same genetic code might affect men and women in a different and even in an antagonist manner. Therefore, disease-cause mutations in one sex can be neutral, or even beneficial, to the other sex. This allows such mutations to be sustained and propagated to relative high population frequencies.
MedicalResearch.com: What are the main findings?
Response: Our work comprehensively mapped for the first time the sex-specific genetic architecture of human adults. We identified hundreds of genes with sex-biased activity, and showed the relation of these genes to several sexually dimorphic features, to human diseases, and to human evolution. Our results can facilitate the understanding of diverse biological characteristics in the context of sex. We also demonstrated the increased propagation of deleterious mutations in many men- and women-specific genes and thus the likely contribution of these genes to the occurrence of human morbidity.
MedicalResearch.com: What should readers take away from your report?
Response: That males and females undergo a sort of separate, but interconnected, evolution. And while vast majority of human biology is shared by men and women, our biology is also diverged in some features. This should be relevant to pharmaceutical industry, medical systems, and in basic science.
MedicalResearch.com: What recommendations do you have for future research as a result of this study?
Response: Some of the genes that we identified provide specific new perspectives and insights into the pathophysiology of several human common diseases like cardiovascular, neurodegenerative, muscle and bone disorders. The involvement of these genes in pathology or in protective roles of these diseases should be carefully further assessed as they could holds new ventures in medicine.
MedicalResearch.com: Thank you for your contribution to the MedicalResearch.com community.
Citation:
Moran Gershoni, Shmuel Pietrokovski. The landscape of sex-differential transcriptome and its consequent selection in human adults. BMC Biology, 2017; 15 (1) DOI: 10.1186/s12915-017-0352-z
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Last Updated on May 7, 2017 by Marie Benz MD FAAD