Women's busy X chromosome genes

Women get more work out of hundreds of genes on the X chromosome than men do, and that could help explain biological differences between the sexes, a new study says.

The results imply that women make higher doses of certain proteins than men do, which could play out in gender differences in both normal life and disease, researchers said.

So far, however, none of the genes identified in the study has been linked to any such observable differences, said Huntington Willard of Duke University, who co-authored the analysis with Laura Carrel of Penn State University. Their report appeared last week in the journal Nature.

Women carry two copies of the X chromosome, one inherited from each parent, while men have one X plus one Y chromosome. Long before birth, females permanently turn off one copy of the X chromosome in each cell, so that like males they operate with just one copy functioning. But that inactivation isn't perfect.

Willard and Carrel found that 15 percent of the inactivated chromosome's genes continue to function to some degree. More surprising, Willard said, was that another 10 percent of the genes have activity levels that vary widely from one woman to the next. In 40 women, the researchers found 40 different patterns of gene activity.

Robotics competition winner

McKeesport Area High School and Technology Center was the big winner at the Pittsburgh Regional FIRST Robotics Competition March 12 at the Petersen Events Center.

It was the McKeesport team's first year in the FIRST competition, which requires teams to design and build a robot. McKeesport beat more than 30 teams to advance to the national championship next month at Atlanta's Georgia Dome. The team also won the Rookie All Star Team award and the Highest Rookie Seed Award.

One of the other local schools represented, Allderdice High School, made it to the semifinal round.