Sex and gender in science
How to navigate a challenging area of research to the benefit of all
Fraught societal debates, particularly surrounding gender identity, are raising questions about how to best take sex and gender into account in research, both in studies of human health and in other contexts. At the same time, scientists are increasingly recognizing that they must move past assumptions that findings from mainly male individuals will apply to everyone.
The articles in this special collection, with contributors who work in fields such as neuroscience, psychology, immunology, cancer and global health, explore the value of considering sex and gender in research, as well as the perils and pitfalls. They explain why progress in this long-neglected area of research is crucial — and consider how differences between individuals can be explored responsibly, inclusively and for the benefit of as many people as possible.
Editorial: Why it’s essential to study sex and gender, even as tensions rise
Latest articles
ESSAY
Beyond the trans/cis binary: introducing new terms will enrich gender research
We need terms such as ‘gender modality’ that are flexible enough to capture the nuances of human experience but pragmatic enough to serve science.
COMMENT
Heed lessons from past studies involving transgender people: first, do no harm
Decades of neuroscientific work have focused on exploring a biological basis for transgender identity — but researchers must take societal factors into account.
COMMENT
Neglecting sex and gender in research is a public-health risk
The data are clear: taking sex and gender into account in research and using that knowledge to change health care could benefit billions of people.
COMMENT
We need more-nuanced approaches to exploring sex and gender in research
Some scientists are reluctant to investigate questions about sex and gender, particularly given today’s sociopolitical tensions around gender identity. But they should lean in and embrace the complexity.
COMMENT
Male–female comparisons are powerful in biomedical research
Binary sex studies have been denounced as too simplistic — but abandoning them altogether would impede progress in a long-neglected area of biomedicine.
Related articles
EDITORIAL
Why it’s essential to study sex and gender, even as tensions rise
Some scholars are avoiding researching sex and gender out of fear that their studies will be misused in the culture war. Nature’s new series is intended to lessen that fear and encourage scientists to dive in.
PODCAST
Sex and gender discussions don’t need to be toxic
The science of sex and gender is too often misinterpreted and weaponized. Now, three experts cut through the misinformation in search of a positive future for this long-neglected area of research.
EDITORIAL
Nature journals raise the bar on sex and gender reporting in research
Authors will be prompted to provide details on how sex and gender were considered in study design.
EDITORIAL
Accounting for sex and gender makes for better science
The European Commission is set to insist on steps that will make research design more inclusive.
FEATURE
Women’s health research lacks funding – these charts show how
Conditions that affect women more than men garner less funding. But boosting investment could reap big rewards
PERSPECTIVE
Sex and gender analysis improves science and engineering
How sex and gender analysis can foster scientific discovery, improve experimental efficiency and enable social equality.
FEATURE
The fraught quest to account for sex in biology research
Funders and publishers are increasingly asking researchers to account for the role of sex in experiments — a requirement that’s contentious and hard to get right.
COMMENT
Let’s talk about (biological) sex
You spent years investigating your beloved protein. You generated mouse models, found a phenotype and fixed it with a drug. You even used human cells to reveal a conserved mechanism. But a prestigious journal has rejected your manuscript because you did not include females. Here is why you should not be mad at them.
SERIES
Sex differences in cancer
A special collection in Nature Reviews Cancer reveals mechanistic insights into the genetic, epigenetic, hormonal, immune and metabolic determinants of sex disparities in cancer susceptibility as well as treatment response, and showcases the need for achieving sex-directed cancer care.
ARTICLE
Online images amplify gender bias
Gender bias is more prevalent in images than text, the under-representation of women online is substantially worse in images and googling for images amplifies gender bias in a person’s beliefs.
FEATURE
The largest study involving transgender people is providing long-sought insights about their health
The research examines once taboo questions about the impacts of gender transition.
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