TECH Signal 251
Single-cell study identifies over 1,000 sex-specific genetic switches in immune cells
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Researchers sequenced more than 1.25 million immune cells from nearly 1,000 healthy people and found over 1,000 genetic switches that behave differently in males and females, with female cells showing greater inflammatory pathway activity.
The findings offer a cellular-level explanation for why women develop autoimmune diseases like lupus far more often than men, while men appear more susceptible to infections and non-reproductive cancers. The work also underscores how bulk blood analysis can mask sex-specific differences that only single-cell resolution reveals, reinforcing the case for including both sexes in medical research.
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Researchers sequenced over 1.25 million peripheral blood mononuclear cells from nearly 1,000 healthy participants in the OneK1K cohort.
Females showed greater numbers of B cells and regulatory T cells with more inflammatory pathway activity, while males had more monocytes focused on cell maintenance and protein production.
The study identified more than 1,000 expression quantitative trait loci that function differently across sexes, many invisible to traditional bulk blood analysis.
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