Promoting the understanding of sex differences to enhance equity and excellence in biomedical science

Abstract

From the moment of our conception, each of us has a sex. Sex has a major role in determining the physical attributes of our bodies, the structure of our brains, our behavioral tendencies, our susceptibility and reaction to diseases, the environment in which we grow up, our place in society, the attitudes of others towards us, and our conception of self. Although sex may be considered to be determined primarily biologically, our gender (i.e., the social perception and implications of our sex) is arguably equally or more important for our lives. Sex and gender differences are created by an intricate reciprocal interaction of numerous biological and environmental forces. Biology of Sex Differences publishes articles concerning the role of sex and gender in normal traits and disease. As the official journal of the Organization for the Study of Sex Differences ([http://www.ossdweb.org]()), Biology of Sex Differences will serve as a forum for discussion of the forces that make females and males different, and the downstream pathways that are affected by sex-specific forces. Biology of Sex Differences will publish articles on animal models and humans. The launch of Biology of Sex Differences is the result of several major developments in biomedicine in recent years. Sex matters There is increasing evidence that males and females differ in their basic physiology, and in the susceptibility to and progression of diseases. The 2001 US Institute of Medicine report [1] concluded that sex matters in major diseases and response to therapy, and sometimes the effect of sex is profound. Women suffer from autoimmune diseases much more frequently than men. For example, women have a nine-fold greater incidence of systemic lupus erythematosus than men, and up to three times greater incidence of multiple sclerosis [2,3]. Males suffer more from some brain diseases such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, autism spectrum disorders, Tourette's syndrome, Parkinson's disease, etc. [4,5]. Sex differences occur in metabolic disease, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, cancer, and response to drugs [6-10].