Accounting for sex differences in biomedical research

When it comes to health, a person’s sex can play a role. More women in the U.S. have autoimmune diseases than men, for example, whereas boys are more likely to be diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder than girls. Yet biomedical research on disease and possible new treatments often studies only one sex. The cover story in Chemical & Engineering News (C&EN), the weekly newsmagazine of the American Chemical Society, explores efforts to change this practice.