ReviewCurrent biology : CB2023
The 'faulty male' hypothesis for sex-biased mutation and disease.
Review in Current biology : CB, 2023. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 16 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
16 citing papers in PubMed, 21 citations in OpenAlex.
- The rate and spectrum of germline mutations in chicken from a commercial pedigree line.Genetics, selection, evolution : GSE · 2026Article
- Disruption of DNA Repair as an Emerging Epigenetic Mechanism Underlying Autism Spectrum Disorder.Current psychiatry reports · 2026Review
- Characterization of de novo germline mutations suggests a strong male mutation bias in coppery titi monkeys (Plecturocebus cupreus).Molecular biology and evolution · 2026Article
- Long-read sequencing of families reveals increased germline and postzygotic mutation rates in repetitive DNA.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Article
- Mechanisms underlying low mutation rates in mammalian oocytes and preimplantation embryos.Nucleic acids research · 2025Review
- Trans-Scale Insights into Variability in Radiation Cancer Risk Across Tissues, Individuals, and Species.Biology · 2025Review
- Genomic origins and evolution of neo-sex chromosomes in Pacific Island birds.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025Article
- Estimates of the Mutation Rate per Year Can Explain Why the Molecular Clock Depends on Generation Time.Molecular biology and evolution · 2025Article
- Characterizing the Rates and Patterns of De Novo Germline Mutations in the Aye-Aye (Daubentonia madagascariensis).Molecular biology and evolution · 2025Article
- Unprecedented female mutation bias in the aye-aye, a highly unusual lemur from Madagascar.PLoS biology · 2025Article
- Paternal age, de novo mutations, and offspring health? New directions for an ageing problem.Human reproduction (Oxford, England) · 2024Review
- A modeling of complex trait phenotypic variance determinants.PNAS nexus · 2024Article
- Characterization and distribution of de novo mutations in the zebra finch.Communications biology · 2024Article
- Article
- "Evolution of the mutation spectrum across a mammalian phylogeny".bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Biological differences between males and females lead to many differences in physiology, disease, and overall health. One of the most prominent disparities is in the number of germline mutations passed to offspring: human males transmit three times as many mutations as do females. While the classic explanation for this pattern invokes differences in post-puberty germline replication between the sexes, recent whole-genome evidence in humans and other mammals has cast doubt on this mechanism. Here, we review recent work that is inconsistent with a replication-driven model of male-biased mutation, and propose an alternative, 'faulty male' hypothesis. This model proposes that males are less able to repair and/or protect DNA from damage compared to females. Importantly, we suggest that this new model for male-biased mutation may also help to explain several pronounced differences between the sexes in cancer, aging, and DNA repair. Although the detailed contributions of genetic, epigenetic, and hormonal influences of biological sex on mutation remain to be fully understood, a reconsideration of the mechanisms underlying these differences will lead to a deeper understanding of evolution and disease.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.