简介

We study the forces that differentiate male and female tissues. Sexual differentiation underlies sex differences in behavior, physiology, and susceptibility to disease. Our recent research on mice indicates that genes on the sex chromosomes, X and Y genes, are expressed differently in male and female cells and induce sex differences in non-gonadal tissues. These direct genetic actions interact with effects of gonadal hormones in the two sexes. Our goal is to identify X and Y genes that contribute to sex differences in tissue function and disease, and to understand the mechanisms of their action. We also study sex chromosome dosage compensation in birds. Males have two Z chromosomes but females have one. Birds have an ineffective mechanism of dosage compensation, which is not predicted from study of mammals and other XX/XY systems. We seek to understand the epigenetic modifications of the Z chromosome that regulate gene dosage, and the evolution of dosage compensation mechanisms.