Sex across origins: Questioning animal-centric assumptions and developing integrative frameworks

Abstract

Sex encompasses a suite of concepts and phenomena that are important for many biological processes and manifest differently across organismal diversity. Scientific progress in understanding sex, across taxonomic and disciplinary specializations, has substantially expanded knowledge of sexual diversity and complexity. This expansion is arguably transformative; however, its accessibility to and impact on nonspecialists remains limited. Common understandings of sex are often centered in human experience and a narrow subset of organismal diversity, shaped by entwined social/scientific histories. Meanwhile, political efforts to define “biological truth” and limit understanding of sexual diversity harm people and science. Improving the integration of knowledge about sex can increase its accessibility, offer new insights, and serve as a foundation for future research. Our symposium brought together researchers across disciplinary and taxonomic expertise to consider sex broadly, decentering animals and working toward broader integrative frameworks. It also included an education workshop and session of talks aimed to improve teaching about sex-related biology. Here we discuss the symposium contributions and key themes, introducing the papers in this issue. We suggest ways to move forward, informed by discussions at the symposium.