Researchers have raised concerns about the cost of requiring applicants for US National Institutes of Health (NIH) grants to use male and female animals or cells in preclinical research (see J. A. Clayton and F. S. Collins Nature 509, 282–283;2014). But they should also consider the costs of not taking sex into account: these include failed clinical trials, misdiagnosis and inappropriate therapies for women, and omission of fundamental biological principles.
Many researchers are still unfamiliar with the distinction between sex and gender. Gender combines self- and societal perceptions of a person's sex, so applies only to humans. Sex is the biological result of interplay between sex chromosomes and gonadal hormones.
The impact of sex is dynamic, changing throughout lifespan and in response to injury and disease. Ruling out the influence of sex on a particular endpoint will sometimes be as difficult as identifying it. Sex must be evaluated in the context of other variables, such as age, experience, genetics and environment.
Age-appropriate medicine is a well-accepted idea that is reflected in the formation of NIH centres studying ageing and child health. The factor of sex deserves an equally integrative approach.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
McCullough, L., McCarthy, M. & de Vries, G. NIH policy: Status quo is also costly. Nature 510, 340 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/510340b
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/510340b
This article is cited by
-
Reproducibility of animal research in light of biological variation
Nature Reviews Neuroscience (2020)
-
A toolbox for the longitudinal assessment of healthspan in aging mice
Nature Protocols (2020)
-
Traumatic brain injury: sex, gender and intersecting vulnerabilities
Nature Reviews Neurology (2018)
-
Our evolving science: studying the influence of sex in preclinical research
Biology of Sex Differences (2016)
-
Stress Effects on Neuronal Structure: Hippocampus, Amygdala, and Prefrontal Cortex
Neuropsychopharmacology (2016)