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There are a lot of folks in the world who want to believe that men and women are very similar. The reality is we have a lot of differences and denying reality never helps anyone. Along these lines, I recently stumbled on a fascinating study that examined 18,670 protein-coding genes in men and women. They found that over 6500 of these genes were expressed differently based on gender. That means more than a third showed sex-linked differences!

A few of the differences:

• Some genes were more highly expressed in the skin of men resulting in more body hair.
• Others were more strongly expressed in men’s muscles, leading to greater strength.
• Some were more highly expressed in fat in women. (This is why he can lose weight so much more easily.)
• There were many sex-linked genes in the mammary glands, half of which were expressed in men. The theory is this suppresses lactation in men.
• A gene that was active in women’s brains but not men’s, seems to protect neurons from Parkinson’s disease – which is far more common in men and also has earlier onset in men.
• A gene active only in women’s hearts affects calcium. This protects younger women from heart disease. But at menopause the gene shuts down, leading to heart disease and osteoporosis. 

The focus of this study was how sex-linked gene expression affects health, which is why most of the findings are along those lines. A more thorough study of the issue would no doubt explain a lot of other male/female differences.

I bring this up because it gives us a glimpse of how God made us so different. The visible differences in our bodies are only a hint at how complex our differences are. It’s very much a case of different not wrong. The better we see and honour that, the better our marriage will be.

~ Paul – I’m XY, and I’m a biology geek.

❤️ #Couple’sQuestion: If you had to eat dinner at the same restaurant for a month, which would you pick?

A post worth reading:

The Generous Wife | Take A Moment ◄ Gratitude is always a good idea.

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