Page Lab

Despite their distinct evolutionary histories, different species can sometimes arrive at similar solutions for survival. The work of various researchers at Whitehead Institute investigates this fascinating phenomenon, called convergent evolution, through the lens of shared mechanisms governing reproduction, development, and regeneration across a range of species.

Biological sex is a potent modifier of health. Yet, for decades, science has overlooked conditions that disproportionately affect women. Now researchers at Whitehead Institute are challenging the status quo and making strides to understand — and transform — key aspects of women’s health.

Whitehead Institute Member David Page and colleagues show that the X and Y chromosomes play a shared role as gene regulators. Genes on the sex chromosomes regulate thousands of genes on other chromosomes, affecting their expression throughout the body.

Whitehead Institute Member David Page and colleagues have discovered that the so-called inactive X chromosome contributes a lot more to gene expression—and gene regulation—than its name implies.

Research from Whitehead Institute Member David Page’s lab shows that the so-called inactive X chromosome, the mostly silent second X chromosome in females, plays a much more active role in gene expression and gene regulation than previously thought, with implications for how we think about sex differences in health and disease.

Whitehead Institute research projects continue to provide important insights into human biology, and they are paving the way for future treatments to address developmental disorders and diseases.

Rebecca Harris, a physician-scientist at Whitehead Institute’s Brit J. d’Arbeloff Center for Women’s Health, has received a prestigious funding award from the NIH’s Building Interdisciplinary Research Careers in Women's Health (BIRCWH) program.

Genes that remain on these volatile chromosomes are essential for the animal to live, suggests a new paper from the Page Lab at Whitehead Institute