Women are out of luck: This gene on the X chromosome is giving them serious health problems

Men and women are different from each other, children in kindergarten already know this. But it’s not just about how we are different on the outside, it’s about how we are composed on the inside. The X and Y chromosomes play a very important role in this respect. While men have both in their bodies, women are always born with two X chromosomes. And this is why they can often suffer from unpleasant diseases.

There is research that shows that genes on the X chromosome can often cause serious health complications for women. Why is the fairer sex more likely to have problems with autoimmune disorders or neurological diseases?

The Y chromosome actually has only one job

The X and Y chromosomes are more different than people realize. It is, of course, logical that their name is based on what they look like. In addition to their shape, the fact that the X is much larger and more complex is also important. It contains about 900 genes and carries more than just sex information. For example, it’s responsible for how we perceive colours, how blood clotting occurs in our bodies, how nutrients are transported around the body. X simply controls a number of processes in the body that we wouldn’t even think to think about.

The Y chromosome only carries about 60 genetic information. Its main, and virtually only, job is to make sure that the embryo becomes a boy. That’s why men have one X and one Y chromosome, while women lack a Y chromosome altogether. So while we all need the X to live, the Y only determines who we are born as.

Women in danger

Although women do not have a Y chromosome, so logically they should be in less danger, the opposite is true. There are many genes on the X chromosome that cause problems. One particular gene that scientists have been studying recently is the KDM6A gene. Neuroscientist Rhonda Voskuhl has been involved in its research.

By studying how the gene works in the brain, her team has found that KDM6A can cause conditions such as multiple sclerosis, which is about three times more likely to occur in women than in men. Specifically, the research used mice that developed symptoms similar to multiple sclerosis under laboratory conditions. In some individuals, the gene was knocked out. These particular females in the study walked better and had less nerve tissue damage.

“This study may move us forward in many ways,” Voskuhl commented on the results of the research, which was conducted on mice. She also pointed out that there are drugs that can mitigate the effects of the KDM6A gene.