The observations of conserved sex-specific regulation suggest that at least a subset of the sexual dimorphism in gene expression underlie important phenotypic differences (developmental, physiological and/or behavioural) between the sexes. These conserved sexually dimorphic gene expression patterns suggest the existence of constant regulatory differences between males and females, which may be beneficial to each sex but can also contribute to different gene–environment interactions in the two sexes. In turn, such differences may result in sex-specific susceptibility to disease. For example, potential sexual dimorphism in the regulation of oxidative stress response pathways could differentially affect susceptibility to cardiovascular diseases in males and females33.
