My favorite pastime was stealing my parents' white coats, going outside with my friends, and crushing up plants in the backyard or dropping rocks from the top of the play-set and seeing what was inside when they cracked open. I was always really interested in understanding how things worked and why they worked the way they did. My parents are both doctors so there was a lot of science exposure growing up for me. That was probably the first thing I wanted to be, and after that I wanted to be a scientist. One of my friends had a toy cash register so we would play with that all day. I think I meant a cashier at the grocery store, because I was really into math and counting, and I thought being able to count money all day would be so cool. When I was very little I would tell my mom I wanted to be a cash register. What did you want to be when you were a kid? This means that those genes are more active in XX females compared to XY males and may contribute to sex differences.Īll together, we think these are good reasons to consider that the genetic differences between XX and XY cells may affect the biochemical makeup of each and every cell in our bodies, which may predispose males and females to different outcomes in terms of health and disease. But a lot of research has shown that about 15 to 30 percent of genes “escape” X chromosome inactivation in females and are active from both X chromosomes. Superficially, this implies that it doesn't matter if you have two X’s or one you basically only have one that's active. In order to equalize gene levels between females with two X’s and males with one X, a process called X chromosome inactivation effectively turns off one of the X’s. Similarly, there are misconceptions about the X chromosome that have led to it being overlooked. We think that differences in activity between the X and Y versions of these genes could lead to sex differences. The latter group is of particular interest because these genes have counterparts on the X chromosome. One group of Y genes is required for male fertility and another group participates in fundamental cellular processes throughout the body. However, the Page lab and others have discovered that there are many more important functions for the Y chromosome. ![]() The Y chromosome has a false reputation of being a genetic wasteland with only one job: to act as a switch that decides whether a developing embryo will form ovaries or testes. In my research, I’m asking the question, does a cell with two X chromosomes look or act differently than a cell with an X and a Y chromosome?Ĭould you expand on why an XX cell might be different than an XY cell?Ī lot of people pay attention to the role of sex hormones in differences between males and females, which is certainly important however, the role of the sex chromosomes have been overlooked. I’m trying to understand whether genetic differences between typical females, who have two X chromosomes, and typical males, who have one X and one Y chromosome, result in fundamental biological differences at the level of the cell. For example, autoimmune diseases are much more prevalent in women while cardiovascular diseases tend to be more prevalent in men, but we don’t know why these differences occur. In the Page lab, we’re interested in why there are large differences in health and disease between males and females. We sat down with San Roman to learn more about her and her experiences in and out of the lab. Brill and Carol Tobin Brill Postdoctoral Fellowship and an NIH Postdoctoral Fellowship. San Roman’s work is supported by the Arthur W. Adrianna San Roman is a postdoc in Whitehead Institute Director and Member David Page’s lab investigating sex differences in human health.
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