It has long been known that viral infections can be more severe in males than females, but the question as to why has remained a mystery — until possibly now. Researchers have found that female mouse and human Natural Killer cells have an extra copy of an X chromosome-linked gene called UTX. UTX acts as an epigenetic regulator to boost NK cell anti-viral function, while repressing NK cell numbers.
An extra X chromosome-linked gene may explain decreased viral infection severity in females
