Differences between males and females are normally attributed to developmental and hormonal differences between the sexes. Here, we demonstrate differences between males and females in gene silencing using a heterochromatin-sensitive reporter gene. Using “sex-reversal” mouse models with varying sex chromosome complements, we found that this differential gene silencing was determined by X chromosome complement, rather than sex. Genome-wide transcription profiling showed that the expression of hundreds of autosomal genes was also sensitive to sex chromosome complement. These genome-wide analyses also uncovered a role for Sry in modulating autosomal gene expression in a sex chromosome complement-specific manner. The identification of this additional layer in the establishment of sexual dimorphisms has implications for understanding sexual dimorphisms in physiology and disease.
Gender differences of the human brain are an important issue in neuroscience research. In recent years, an increasing amount of evidence has been gathered from noninvasive neuroimaging studies supporting a sexual dimorphism of the human brain. However, there is a lack of imaging studies on gender differences of brain metabolic networks based on a large population sample.
This study provides solid data that reveal gender differences in regional brain glucose metabolism and brain glucose metabolic networks. These observations might contribute to the better understanding of the gender differences in human brain functions, and suggest that gender should be included as a covariate when designing experiments and explaining results of brain glucose metabolic networks in the control and experimental individuals or patients
The analysis undertaken in the study, Men and Male as the Norm? – A Gender Perspective on Innovation Policies in Denmark, Finland and Sweden of around 50 innovation policy texts and 18 homepages of governmental innovation agencies in Denmark, Sweden and Finland can be shown to conclude that: gender equality is not mainstreamed in innovation policies. For example there are few occasions where gender-related issues are discussed or a gender perspective is defined. There is a lack of knowledge on the gendering of society and the role gender plays in issues related to the knowledge economy, while gender-divided statistics are seldom used.
