Gender is taught, but also is not.

Gender is something people become aware of at an early age.  As soon as children can form complex ideas about the world, they begin to assign themselves and others a gender, and these ideas are frequently not congruent with the expectations many others have.  Like all things biological, gender is messy. For the sake of …

Doctors that declined the COVID-19 vaccine

I was surprised the other day while rounding on patients in the hospital that two of my fellow interns stated that they would opt out of the COVID-19 vaccine. They were afraid that it was not tested enough to guarantee there would not be long term consequences for them.

No one actually knows what you are saying.

When we are speaking to others, what they understand is only partially influenced by our intended meaning.  A large part of receiving information is subject to one's emotional state, attention to the details of our speech, current thoughts, ability to understand our words, and especially what the receiver expects us to be saying.

By the numbers: when you should NOT do the experiment.

Doing scientific research on medical treatments helps us to know whether or not they work. That seems obvious, but there are times when a scientist may not want to test whether or not something works. Let me explain. It may seem obvious that we should not conduct medical experiments on treatments like castration for depression. …

What does GMO-free mean?

GMOs (genetically modified organisms) are often perceived something like "Grossly Monstrous & Odious." What are they anyway? Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com Strict definitions of GMOs usually refer to transgenic organisms: those that have had a gene from other species inserted into them. The techno name for changing DNA is mutagenesis, but transgenic mutagenesis not …