Dr. Haseltine believes that we can improve our understanding of why such gender differences occur by studying human development in utero. She speculates that males may have a faster clock during cell division. More rapid development of the central nervous system in males may explain why autism is four times as common among men, and may also account for right and left brain differences in men and women. Although hormonal differences may account for why women are more susceptible to sleep disorders, migraines, and rapid cycling in cases of bipolar disorder, that doesn't explain why alcoholism causes more liver damage in women and more cardiac damage in men. Dr. Haseltine believes that the explosion of interest in non-Mendelian genetics may soon yield the answers to these and similar questions.
Studies already show that only one parent can pass on certain disorders.
Type I diabetes, for example, is primarily inherited from the father. Known as imprinting, this type of gene control explains why certain traits, said to run in families, sometimes skip a generation or two and then return. Dr. Haseltine is optimistic that a gender-based approach to medicine can open up new scientific territories that can improve the health of both men and women. Four students who were among the first cohort to complete the program are now first-year students in the College of Medicine, and five more have been accepted to begin school in the fall. To enter the EME program, students must have a minimum 3.0 GPA, both in science and general subjects.