There is No Consensus on Biological Sex
2026/03/01 by Madeline G. Eppley, Andy Lee, Robert Dellinger +1 · 5 voices · 2 citations
Medicine · Social Sciences · Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · #Sex and Gender in Healthcare #Demographic Trends and Gender Preferences #Sexual Differentiation and Disorders
paper · doi:10.1111/ele.70350
Abstract
There is ongoing scientific and societal discourse on the definition of biological sex. At this critical moment when misinformation about sex is being applied to policy globally, scientific clarification is valuable. Here, we evaluate the primary approaches to defining sex and synthesise the active discourse to conclude that there is no current consensus on a definition of sex that is free of assumptions and limitations. While there is no current consensus, we do not advocate for a single definition and contend that a lack of unanimity is not inherently problematic. No matter what definitional choices are used, we provide actionable recommendations to improve accuracy when describing sex. Most importantly, regardless of scientific debates, no biological definition of sex should be used to dictate human rights.
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- Ecology Letters *solicited* the article arguing for a simple binary "biological sex" to counter the excellent Eppley, Lee, Dellinger, Swank paper (doi.org/10.1111/ele....), which they wanted to hold u [bsky, 46 points, 3 comments]
- "Here, we evaluate the primary approaches to defining sex and...conclude that there is no current consensus on a definition of sex that is free of assumptions and limitations... Most importantly,...no [bsky, 20 points, 1 comments]
- V. important perspective piece by @madeline-eppley.bsky.social & @andylee.bsky.social on biological sex and why a lack of scientific consensus should not be used to dictate human rights doi.org/10.11 [bsky, 8 points, 1 comments]
- That first paper (doi.org/10.1111/ele....), & reviewers for both, point out similarities with the debate over the definition of 'species', which I think is a productive comparison. That we have yet to [bsky, 3 points, 1 comments]
- "Here, we evaluate the primary approaches to defining sex and...conclude that there is no current consensus on a definition of sex that is free of assumptions and limitations... Most importantly,...no [mastodon, 1 points, 1 comments]
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