Genetic safeguard protects the female heart, and what happens when it's lost

Article excerpt

Men and women are not born with the same risk of heart disease, and for decades scientists have struggled to explain why. A new study from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, published in Genes & Development, offers an answer: The female heart depends on a molecular safeguard that the male heart can largely do without, and when that safeguard is removed, female hearts fail while male hearts keep beating.