Overview

• Two-thirds of plasma proteins exhibit differences in expression levels between males and females, yet less than 3% are regulated by sex-specific genetic variants.
• The study analyzed genetic and proteomic data from UK Biobank and the Fenland Study, making it the largest investigation of its kind to date.
• Non-genetic factors, including lifestyle, socioeconomic status, and environmental conditions, are key contributors to observed health disparities between sexes.
• Findings support the broad applicability of genetically guided drug discovery across sexes while emphasizing the need for more inclusive precision medicine approaches.
• Researchers acknowledge limitations in using chromosomal sex categorization (XX/XY) and call for future studies to better incorporate gender diversity in biomedical research.