Sex is the trait that determines whether a sexually reproducing organism produces male or female gametes. Male organisms produce small mobile gametes, while female organisms produce larger, non-mobile gametes. Organisms that produce both types of gametes are called hermaphrodites. During sexual reproduction, male and female gametes fuse to form zygotes, which develop into offspring that inherit traits from each parent.
Sex differences in medicine include sex-specific diseases or conditions which occur only in people of one sex due to underlying biological factors ; sex-related diseases, which are diseases that are more common to one sex ; and diseases which occur at similar rates in males and females but manifest differently according to sex.
Sexual dimorphism is the condition where sexes of the same species exhibit different morphological characteristics, particularly characteristics not directly involved in reproduction. The condition occurs in most animals and some plants. Differences may include secondary sex characteristics, size, weight, color, markings, or behavioral or cognitive traits. Male–male reproductive competition has evolved a diverse array of sexually dimorphic traits. Aggressive utility traits such as "battle" teeth and blunt heads reinforced as battering rams are used as weapons in aggressive interactions between rivals. Passive displays such as ornamental feathering or song-calling have also evolved mainly through sexual selection. These differences may be subtle or exaggerated and may be subjected to sexual selection and natural selection. The opposite of dimorphism is monomorphism, when both biological sexes are phenotypically indistinguishable from each other.
PLOS Biology is a monthly peer-reviewed scientific journal covering all aspects of biology. Publication began on October 13, 2003. It is the first journal published by the Public Library of Science. The editor-in-chief is Nonia Pariente.
Heredity is a monthly peer-reviewed scientific journal published by Nature Portfolio. It covers heredity in a biological sense, i.e. genetics. The journal was founded by Ronald Fisher and C. D. Darlington in 1947 and is the official journal of The Genetics Society. From 1996 the publishing was taken over by Nature Portfolio. The editor-in-chief is Sara Goodacre.
Developmental Biology is a peer-reviewed scientific journal. It was established in 1959 and is the official journal of the Society for Developmental Biology. It publishes research on the mechanisms of development, differentiation, and growth in animals and plants at the molecular, cellular, and genetic levels. The journal is published twice a month by Elsevier.
BioScience is a monthly peer-reviewed scientific journal that is published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the American Institute of Biological Sciences. It was established in 1964 and was preceded by the AIBS Bulletin (1951–1963).
Nature Medicine is a monthly peer-reviewed medical journal published by Nature Portfolio covering all aspects of medicine. It was established in 1995. The journal seeks to publish research papers that "demonstrate novel insight into disease processes, with direct evidence of the physiological relevance of the results". As with other Nature journals, there is no external editorial board, with editorial decisions being made by an in-house team, although peer review by external expert referees forms a part of the review process. The editor-in-chief is João Monteiro.
Molecular Omics is a bimonthly peer-reviewed scientific journal published by the Royal Society of Chemistry. It covers the interface between chemistry, the "omic" sciences, and systems biology. The editor-in-chief is Robert L. Moritz.
Molecular and Cellular Biology is a biweekly peer-reviewed scientific journal covering all aspects of molecular and cellular biology. It is published by the American Society for Microbiology and the editor-in-chief is Peter Tontonoz. It was established in 1981. The h-index (1981-2021) is 338.
Current Biology is a biweekly peer-reviewed scientific journal that covers all areas of biology, especially molecular biology, cell biology, genetics, neurobiology, ecology, and evolutionary biology. The journal includes research articles, various types of review articles, as well as an editorial magazine section. The journal was established in 1991 by the Current Science group, acquired by Elsevier in 1998 and has since 2001 been part of Cell Press, a subdivision of Elsevier. According to Journal Citation Reports, the journal has a 2020 impact factor of 10.834. It was categorized as a "high impact journal" by the Superfund Research Program.
Phytochemistry is a peer-reviewed scientific journal covering pure and applied plant chemistry, plant biochemistry and molecular biology. It is published by Elsevier and is an official publication for the Phytochemical Society of Europe, the Phytochemical Society of North America, and the Phytochemical Society of Asia.
BMC Ecology and Evolution, previously BMC Evolutionary Biology (2001–2020), is a peer-reviewed open access scientific journal covering all fields of evolutionary biology, including phylogenetics and palaeontology. It was established in 2001 and is part of a series of BMC journals published by BioMed Central.
The American Journal of Human Biology is a peer-reviewed scientific journal covering human biology. It is the official publication of the Human Biology Association. The journal publishes original research, theoretical articles, reviews, and other communications connected to all aspects of human biology, health and disease.
Gender essentialism is a theory that is used to examine the attribution of distinct, fixed, intrinsic qualities to women and men. In this theory, based in essentialism, there are certain universal, innate, biologically or psychologically based features of gender that are at the root of observed differences in the behavior of men and women. In Western civilization, it is suggested in writings going back to ancient Greece. With the advent of Christianity, the earlier Greek model was expressed in theological discussions as the doctrine that there are two distinct sexes, male and female created by God, and that individuals are immutably one or the other. This view remained largely unchanged until the middle of the 19th century. This changed the locus of the origin of the essential differences from religion to biology, in Sandra Bem's words, "from God's grand creation [to] its scientific equivalent: evolution's grand creation," but the belief in an immutable origin had not changed.
Delusions of Gender: How Our Minds, Society, and Neurosexism Create Difference is a 2010 book by Cordelia Fine, written to debunk the idea that men and women are hardwired with different interests. The author criticizes claimed evidence of the existence of innate biological differences between men and women's minds as being faulty and exaggerated, and while taking a position of agnosticism with respect to inherent differences relating to interest/skill in "understanding the world" versus "understanding people", reviews literature demonstrating how cultural and societal beliefs contribute to sex differences.
Psychology of Men & Masculinities is a peer-reviewed academic journal published by the American Psychological Association on behalf of Division 51. The journal was established in 2000 and covers research on "how boys' and men's psychology is influenced and shaped by both gender and sex, and encompasses the study of the social construction of gender, sex differences and similarities, and biological processes." The current editor-in-chief is Y. Joel Wong, PhD.
Neurosexism is an alleged bias in the neuroscience of sex differences towards reinforcing harmful gender stereotypes. The term was coined by feminist scholar Cordelia Fine in a 2008 article and popularised by her 2010 book Delusions of Gender. The concept is now widely used by critics of the neuroscience of sex differences in neuroscience, neuroethics and philosophy.
Sex as a biological variable (SABV) is a research policy recognizing sex as an important variable to consider when designing studies and assessing results. Research including SABV has strengthened the rigor and reproducibility of findings. Public research institutions including the European Commission, Canadian Institutes of Health Research, and the U.S. National Institutes of Health have instituted SABV policies. Editorial policies were established by various scientific journals recognizing the importance and requiring research to consider SABV.
