Project Nettie: Scientists and academics supporting the biological reality of sex
The Project Nettie statement
Male and female are scientific descriptions of the two sexual reproductive functions evolved to produce two specialised types of sex cells: small, mobile gametes (e.g. sperm or pollen) and large, immobile gametes (e.g. eggs).
In humans, there are two classes of individuals, each with a molecular and anatomical developmental pattern corresponding to adult reproduction via either sperm or eggs.
This division of the two reproductive functions across two classes of individuals is a simple outcome of our species’ evolutionary history.
In humans, anatomical developmental patterns are fixed during early embryonic development, and sex does not change throughout the individual lifespan.
While (rare) individuals have medical conditions that affect their anatomical reproductive development and/or function, not one of these individuals represents an additional sex class. One’s inability to produce gametes (e.g. those who are infertile or post-reproductive) does not change sex from that defined by reproductive anatomy.
Attempts to recast biological sex as a social construct, which then becomes a matter of arbitrarily chosen individual identity, are wholly ideological, scientifically inaccurate and socially irresponsible.
Signatories
Katie Alcock. DPhil, Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, UK. Senior lecturer in Psychology, Lancaster University, UK. Claire Allen. BSc, Biochemistry, Newcastle University, UK. Luis Alvarez. MD, Universidad Peruana Cayetano Heredia, Peru. Intensivist. Mary Andreasen. BSN (Nursing). Registered nurse. Kat Arney. PhD, Developmental Genetics, University of Cambridge, UK. Postdoctoral researcher, MRC Clinical Sciences Centre, Imperial College London, UK. Science writer and presenter of the Genetics Unzipped podcast. Katharine Arnold. MBChB, University of Sheffield, UK. Speciality trainee in geriatric and general internal medicine. Member of the Royal College of Physicians. J. Michael Bailey. PhD, Psychology, University of Texas (Austin), US. Professor of Psychology, Northwestern University, US. William Barnes. BSc, Physics, University of Exeter, UK. Katherine Baxter. MBChB, University of Cambridge, UK. Doctor. Jenny Bell. BSc, Ecological Science, University of Edinburgh, UK. Sarah Benjamins. BSc, Environmental Biology, University of Manchester, UK. David Bertoncini. MD, University of Illinois Chicago, US. Family medicine practitioner. Richard Bettison. PhD, Organic Chemistry, University of Sussex, UK. Annette Breen. BAppSc, Agriculture, Massey University, NZ. Diane Brewster. DPhil, Artificial Intelligence, University of Sussex, UK. Gregory A. Brown. PhD, Department of Kinesiology and Sport Sciences, University of Nebraska Kearney, US. Professor. Jay Brown. PhD, Virology, University of Warwick, UK. Carly Brooks. PhD, Genetics, University of Southampton, UK. Formerly Marine Environment Programme Manager, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) Marine Team, UK. Richard Byng. MBChB, University of Cambridge, UK. General practitioner. Member of the Royal College of General Practitioners. Brady Caldwell. MSc, Astronomy, Uppsala University, Sweden. Head science teacher. Dave Canavan. BSc, Biology, Manchester Metropolitan University, UK. Teacher. Amy Chestnutt. BSc, Biochemistry, University of Bristol, UK. Science teacher. Ryan Clark. MBChB, University of Newcastle, UK. Consultant. Fellow of the Royal College of Emergency Medicine. Jane Cook. PhD, Philosophy and Social Sciences, University of Waikato, NZ. Research associate. David Crowe. BSc, Biology, Lakehead University, Canada. David Curtis. MBChB and PhD, Genetics, University of Cambridge, UK. Psychiatrist. Fellow of the Royal College of Psychiatrists. Saurja DasGupta. PhD, Chemistry, University of Chicago, US. Postdoctoral Research Fellow. Dilys Davies. PhD, Psychology, University of London. Consultant Clinical Psychologist. Marco Del Giudice. PhD, Cognitive Science, University of Turin, Italy. Professor of Psychology. Cathy Devine. BSc, Zoology, University College London, UK. Angela Dixon. MBChB, St George’s, London, UK. Doctor and woman’s health specialist. Melanie Douglass. PhD, Psychology, Glasgow Caledonian University, UK. Michael Dubar. BSc, Mechanical Engineering, University of Edinburgh, UK. Former researcher at the Energy Research Group. Amaryllis Elphick. BSc, Applied Biology, University of East London, UK. Charlotte Evans. BSci, Human Biology and MRes, Bioscience, University of East London, UK. Ellen Faed. PhD, Pharmacology, Otago University, NZ. Edward Fernandes. PhD, Social Psychology and Sexology, Union Institute and University, US. Associate Professor of Psychology. Joanne Finkel. MA, Archaeology, University of Glasgow, UK. Lina María Gallo Espinosa. BSc, Physics, Universidad Nacional de Colombia, Colombia. Liam Garvey. PhD, Plant Ecophysiology, University of Dublin, Ireland. Biology teacher. Michelle Gosse. MA, Psychology, Massey University, NZ. James Greville. PhD, Psychology, Cardiff University, UK. Lecturer. Giedre Grigelioniene. MD, PhD. Consultant in Clinical Genetics and Pediatrics. Carsten Grötzinger. PhD, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Humboldt University, Germany. Research group leader. Antonia Hamilton. PhD Neuroscience, University College London, UK. Professor of Neuroscience. Elizabeth Hamilton. PhD candidate in Experimental and Cognitive Psychology, Universite Paris 8, France. Adjunct Professor. Lewis Halsey. PhD, Zoology, University of Birmingham, UK. Professor of Environmental Physiology. Steve Harcourt. MS Chemistry, Rensselaer Institute, US. BASF chemist. Patricia Hardman. PhD, Biochemistry, University of Manchester, UK. Teacher. Sanne Hatt. BSc, Audiology, University of Gothenburg, Sweden. Clinical audiologist. Thomas Hawkins. PhD, Biology, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. Debbie Hayton. PhD, Atomic Physics, University of Newcastle upon Tyne, UK. Physics teacher. Michael Heller. MD, State University of New York (Upstate) Medical University, US. Emergency Medicine. Alicia Hendley. PhD, Clinical Psychology, University of Windsor, Canada. Former psychologist. Amanda Heslegrave. PhD, Neuroscience, University College London, UK. Senior research fellow. Paul Hewson. PhD, Statistics, Exeter University, UK. Data scientist. Heather E. Heying. PhD, Evolutionary Biology, University of Michigan, US. Professor, educator, author. Emma Hilton. PhD, Developmental Biology, University of Warwick, UK. Postdoctoral research fellow. Scott Howell. PhD, Health Science, Trident University, US. Epidemiologist and exercise physiologist. Kristopher Hunt. MD, St. Vincent Emergency Physicians, Indianapolis, US. USA Powerlifting. Brenda Jones. BHS (Nursing), Edith Cowan University, Australia. Sharon Joyce. BSocSci and MEnvMan, University of Tasmania, Australia. Environmental social scientist. Damla Karagöl. BSc, Molecular Biology and Genetics, Uludağ University, Turkey. Lesley Kay. MBChB. Consultant. Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians. Morag Kerr. BVMS, BSc Biochemistry, PhD, University of Glasgow, UK. Member of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons. Lynette Keys. BA, Archeology, University College London, UK. Consultant archeometallurgist. Christopher Kirk. PhD, Sheffield Hallam University, UK. Senior Lecturer of Sport and Exercise Physiology. Jane Kloda. PhD, Genetics, University of Cambridge, UK. Martin Law. BDS, University of Manchester, UK. Dentist. Sandra Law. PhD Educational Technology, University of Calgary, Canada. Former researcher in plant reproductive biology. Dierdre Little. MBChB. Medical officer and woman’s health specialist. Sue Lani Madsen. BArch, Architecture, Washington State University, US. Emergency Medical Technician. William J. Malone. MD, NYU School of Medicine, US. Endocrinologist. H Susana Marinho. PhD, Biochemistry, University of Lisbon, Portugal. Assistant Professor of Biochemistry. Sarah Marsden. MBChB, University of Leeds, UK. Anaesthetist. Caoimhe McAnena. DClinPsych University College London, UK. Clinical Psychologist. Stephen McCarthy. MD, Dalhousie University, Canada. Family medicine. Sarah McGurk. BVMS, University of Edinburgh, UK. Veterinary surgeon. Member of the Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons. Indrek Meyer. MD, University of Toledo, US. Family medicine, intensivist. Geoffrey Miller. PhD, Cognitive Psychology, Stanford University, US. Professor of Psychology. Fellow of the Association for Psychological Science. Fiona Mitchell. BSc, Physiotherapy, University of East London, UK. Musculoskeletal physiotherapist. Janet Montgomery. PhD, Archaeological Science, University of Bradford, UK. Professor of Bioarchaeology. Lewis Moonie. MBChB, University of St Andrews, UK. Psychiatrist. Member of the Royal College of Psychiatrists. Member of the House of Lords. Rebekah Murphy. MB BS, St George’s, London, UK. Melanie Newbould. MB BS, University of London, UK. Pediatric pathologist. Fellow of the Royal College of Pathologists. Andrew Nolan. BSc, Chemistry. Teacher. Layne Norton. PhD, Nutritional Sciences, University of Illinois, US. Research Fellow. Powerlifter and body coach. Alan O’Callaghan. PhD candidate in Biomedical Data Science, University of Edinburgh, UK. Tanya Ogle. BScN Nursing, University of Western Ontario, Canada. Registered nurse. Charlotte Oliver. BSc, Biomedical Science, University of Sunderland, UK. Candy Outten. BA, Sports and Exercise Science, University of Surrey, UK. Pamela Owens. BSc, Biology, Humboldt State, US. Ellen Pasternack. PhD, Zoology, University of Oxford, UK. Maxine Petersen-Lee. BA, Psychology, York University, Canada. Clinician. Member of the College of Psychologists of Ontario. Laetitia Pichevin-Harrison. PhD, Climate and Marine Sciences, School of Geosciences, University of Edinburgh, UK. David Pilgrim. PhD, University of Southampton, UK. Clinical psychologist. Barbara Price. BA, Psychology, Washington University, US; ASN Nursing, Washtenaw Community College, US. Lisa Proctor. BSc, Diagnostic Radiography, Birmingham City University, UK. Marie Robson. BSc, Engineering Geology and MSc Environmental Science, University of Sunderland, UK. Public Health England. Hannah Ryan. MBChB, University of Liverpool, UK. Registrar. Member of the Royal College of Physicians. Kathryn Scarbrough. PhD, Physiology, University of Maryland Baltimore, US. Scientist, educator. Jim Schofield. DVM and GradDipMedPhys, University of Sydney, Australia. Richard Seager. BSc, Information Science, Otago University, NZ. C Shepherd. MSc, Pharmacological Biochemistry. Science educator. Sarah Smith. MBChB, University of Glasgow. Former NHS GP and clinical research physician. Jonathan Smithson. BMedSci, University of Newcastle, Australia. Psychiatrist. Fellow of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists. Samuel Snow. PhD, Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, US. Linda Spenst-Blade. PhD, Kinesiology, Simon Fraser University, Canada. President of Athletics Alberta. Steve Stewart-Williams. PhD, Psychology and Philosophy, Massey University, NZ. Sian Sullivan. PhD, Anthropology, University College London, UK. Professor. Graham Sutton. PhD, Hearing Science, Keele University, UK. Consultant audiologist (retired). Pamela Thompson. DPhil, Molecular Genetics, University of Oxford, UK. Former research fellow. Paul Thompson. PhD, Psychometrics. Medical statistician. Heidi Tillin. PhD, Marine Ecology, University of Liverpool, UK. Consultant marine ecologist. Simon Tomlinson. PhD, Neuropsychology, Bangor University, UK. Georgina Toye. PhD, Biomedical Immunology, University of Bath, UK. David Triesman. PhD, Epidemiology, University of Cambridge, UK. Fellow of the Royal Statistical Society. Member of the House of Lords. Kathryn Turner. PhD, Ecology, University of Sheffield, UK. Pierre Vachon. PhD, Cell Biology, University of Sherbrooke, Canada. Associate Professor. Sarah Verity. DClinPsy Newcastle University, UK. Clinical psychologist. Jennifer Wagner. MD, Indiana University, US. Orthopedic surgeon. Selina Wallis. BSc, Marine Biology and PGCE Science, University of North Wales Bangor, UK. Research Impact Officer. Richard Wassersug. PhD, Evolutionary Biology, University of Chicago, US. Professor of Anatomy and Neurobiology. Adrian Webb. MA, Applied Anthropology, California State University (Long Beach), US. Archeologist. Emily Wheater. PhD, Translational Neuroscience, University of Edinburgh, UK. Rachel Whiteley. PhD, Quantitative and Molecular Genetics, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, Sweden. Teacher. Daphna Whitmore. MN (Nursing), Massey University, NZ. Registered nurse in reproductive health. Linda Wiener. PhD, Entomology, University of Wisconsin Madison, US. Teacher. Nicola Williams. PhD, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Leicester, UK. Alison Wren. BSc Microbiology and MSc Health Education. Teacher. Colin Wright. PhD, Evolutionary Biology and Ecology, Penn State, US. Science communicator. Jacqueline Xavier. BSc Health Science, Indiana University, US.
Supporting academic signatories
John Armstrong. DPhil, Mathematics, University of Oxford, UK. Senior lecturer. Alessandra Asteriti. PhD, International Law, University of Glasgow, UK. Jane Ayers. LLB Law, Leicester University, UK. Teacher. Valerie Bernham. BSc, Audiology and Speech Science, University of Michigan, US. Janice Briggs. PhD, Economic Sociology, City University of New York, US. Michael Biggs. PhD Sociology, Harvard, US. Associate Professor of Sociology, University of Oxford, UK. Fellow. Callie Burt. PhD Sociology, University of Georgia, US. Associate Professor of Criminolgy. Alex Byrne. PhD, Philosophy, Princeton University, US. Professor of Philosophy. Lynn Fauth. PhD, English, University of Indiana, US. Former Professor. Malcolm Featherstone. BA Economics, University of Warwick, UK. Barrister. Philip Ferguson. PhD, History, University of Canterbury, NZ. Brenda Fine. BMath, Mathematics, University of British Columbia, Canada. Statistics educator. Frank Furedi. PhD, Sociology, University of Kent, UK. Emeritus Professor, author. Molly Gardner. PhD, Philosophy, University of Wisconsin-Madison, US. Assistant Professor. Vanessa Gash. DPhil, Sociology, University of Oxford, UK. Senior lecturer. Jayne Gosnall. BA, 3D Design, Middlesex University, UK. Educator. Claire Graham. Graduate Diploma in Law, Sheffield Hallam University, UK. Educator and advocate for the DSD community. Marcus Grant. BSc, Ecology, University of Exeter, UK. Fellow of the Faculty of Public Health. Jeanna Hoch. BA, Political Science, University of Colorado, US. Keith Holmwood. BA, English and French, Keele University, UK. Teacher. Lucy Hunter Blackburn. PhD, Education, University of Edinburgh, UK. Sue Ivanyi. BAgrSci, Agriculture, La Trobe University, Australia. Public health counsellor. Monika Jerič. PhD, Comparative Literature Studies, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia. Jane Clare Jones. PhD, Philosophy, State University of New York, US. Madeleine Jowett. PhD, Women’s Studies, Lancaster University, UK. Former lecturer. Lyne Jubinville. BSc, Management, HEC Montreal, Canada. Sharon Lane. BEng, Mechanical Design Engineering, University of Teesside, UK. Engineer. Holly Lawford-Smith. PhD, Philosophy, Australian National University, Australia. Senior Lecturer. Roanne Leeman. BSW and MSW, Carleton University, Canada. Registered social worker. Lisa Mackenzie. MSc, Policy Studies, University of Edinburgh, UK. Michelle Mackness. MC, Counselling, City University of Seattle (Vancouver), Seattle. Mental Health Therapist. Jessica Masterson. PhD candidate in Philosophy, University of Birmingham, UK. Kirsty McKenzie. MA, Applied Linguistics, King’s College London, UK. Vicky Miller. MA, Education. Teacher. Richard Moot. PhDl Computational Linguistics, Utrecht University, Netherlands. Libby Morrison. PhD, Human Geography, Newcastle University, UK. Simon Mulholland. Engineer, inventor. Pony Access Scotland. Kath Murray. PhD, Criminology, University of Edinburgh, UK. Research Fellow. Ani O’Brien. BA History and English, University of Auckland, NZ. Educator. Norienne Saign. PhD, Literature, University of California San Diego, US. James Scaminaci III. PhD, Sociology, Stanford, US. Former intelligence analyst. Nick Scullin. MA, Information Studies, Victoria University of Wellington, NZ. Biological Sciences Subject Librarian. Lesley Semmens. PhD, Mathematics, Computing and Software Engineering, Leeds Beckett University, UK. Former senior lecturer. Mike Shone. BA, Sociology and Philosophy. Lecturer in Further Education. John Simpson. BSc, Computer Science, Open University, UK. Maria Sobolewska. DPhil, Sociology, University of Oxford, UK. Professor. Svetlana Speight. DPhil, Sociology, University of Oxford, UK. Research Director. Jeremy Stangroom. PhD, Sociology, London School of Economics, UK. Author. Kathleen Stock. PhD, Philosophy, University of Leeds, UK. Author. Alice Sullivan. DPhil, Sociology, University of Oxford, UK. Professor. Lani Rowe. PhD, Political Science, Yale, US. Jane Waring. BA, English Literature and PGCE, University of Reading, UK. Lecturer in Education. Mark Warschauer. PhD, Second Language Acquisition, University of Hawaii, US. Professor. Tania Ziegler. BSc Mathematics, PGCE and MA Ed, University of Southampton, UK. Mathematics teacher.
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Project Nettie information
What is the aim of Project Nettie? To simply reassert the definition of biological sex. We do not extend our claims regarding biological sex beyond the scientific fact of biological sex. We do not feed into any political ideology.
Why ‘Project Nettie’? Sex chromosomes were, in 1905, discovered by a female geneticist called Nettie Stevens. We hope, in some small way, to honour her achievements.
Thank you! In this age of scientific ignorance deliberately foisted upon us by authoritarian ideologues we need the voices of sanity!
Allowing anti science to take control, allowing lies to be accepted is dangerous to democracy , because any lies can then be spread about and truth is sacrificed to ideology..