Chromosome Biology

Whitehead Institute Member David Page and colleagues measured the effects of the sex chromosomes on two types of immune cells, gaining insights into the cell-type-specific effects of gene regulation by sex chromosome genes. Their work also explores the biological underpinnings of sex biases in immunity and autoimmune disease.

Whitehead Institute Member David Page and colleagues show that the X and Y chromosomes play a shared role as gene regulators. Genes on the sex chromosomes regulate thousands of genes on other chromosomes, affecting their expression throughout the body.

Researchers propose a new framework for how satellite DNA, sometimes called “genomic junk,” is essential in the organization of chromosomes in cells. They suggest this quickly-evolving DNA is one reason different species are unable to successfully interbreed.

Whitehead Institute Member Iain Cheeseman and collaborators have discovered how one critical protein is regulated to play multiple roles that help rewire cell division to create eggs and sperm.

Whitehead Institute scientists investigate germ cells — the cells that never cease to exist

Genes that remain on these volatile chromosomes are essential for the animal to live, suggests a new paper from the Page Lab at Whitehead Institute

Whitehead Institute researchers have sequenced the male-determining chromosome of cattle — and found evidence of a “selfish” competition between sex chromosomes 

Adrianna San Roman is a postdoc in Whitehead Institute Director and Member David Page’s lab investigating sex differences in human health. San Roman’s work is supported by the Arthur W. Brill and Carol Tobin Brill Postdoctoral Fellowship and an NIH Postdoctoral Fellowship. We sat down with San Roman to learn more about her and her experiences in and out of the lab.

Mary Gehring and Iain Cheeseman are recipients of named chairs