00:00Why might a cut heal faster on one person than another?
00:02A new study in Nature suggests sex hormones are part of the answer.
00:07Researchers at the Free University of Brussels used advanced microscopy
00:11to follow individual skin stem cells in living mice and their descendants for five months.
00:16Here is what they saw.
00:18In female mice, sister cells tended to make the same decision at the same time,
00:23almost like they were in sync.
00:24In males, the cells acted more independently.
00:27When the team removed hormones, the patterns changed,
00:31and giving them back restored the original behavior.
00:34Estrogen boosted stem cell growth and coordination,
00:37while testosterone sped up how fast skin cells matured,
00:40including in lab-grown human skin,
00:42and wounds on the backs of female mice closed faster, mostly in the first few days.
00:48The caution, this is mostly mouse research and uses for burns.
00:52Surgery or diabetic wounds are still speculative.
00:55As the lead author put it,
00:56Sex is a factor too often overlooked in medicine.
00:59Disclosure.
01:00This video contains stock footage and content created or enhanced using AI-assisted tools.
01:04The
