There are vastly different ways to “read” a genome, just as there is a vast number of “readers” engaged in interpreting it. Regulation, the process by which cells determine what to read or “express”, is biology’s version of interpretation, and it plays a key role when it comes to the differences between the sexes. Evolutionary biologists at Heidelberg University are exploring how sex shapes gene activity and how males and females, while carrying nearly identical genomes, often switch on different genes at different times. In doing so, they are seeking to gain a fuller understanding of biology and the evolutionary mechanisms that give rise to life’s infinite variety.
Frank et al. (2026) studied this question.