Paper short abstract:

In this proposal, we design a podcast series to discuss feminist perspectives for the scientific production of mesenchymal stem cells. Departing from the case of menstrual blood, we stress the way in which the sexual difference of cells is mobilized in experiments and clinical trials.

Paper long abstract:

The male body has been taken by biomedical and scientific perspectives as a parameter of universality. Even though there is a diversity and variety of bodies, sexes and genders, menstrual blood is associated with bodies perceived as feminine. Despite the many advantages of working with mesenchymal cells derived from menstrual blood, scientific publications using menstrual blood account for only 0.25% of articles of the area (MANICA et al, 2022). Our research questions the extent to which cells, animals and patients are marked by gender in scientific experimental practices, as these results have suggested.

Narratives about menstrual blood cells provoke the field of biology into the blind spot of the neutrality of knowledge, objectivity and the irrelevance of scientists' bodies in scientific making. In this paper, we present a podcast series, aiming to discuss possible feminist perspectives for the scientific production of stem cells, stressing the way in which the sexual difference of cells is mobilized in experiments and clinical trials.

Exploring the language of audio through the podcast, and science communication as a politically situated approach, we produce a feminist narrative that provokes the making of biomedical research. We will bring an analysis of scientific publications on stem cells and data from interviews with scientists, questioning gender and race biases in cell choices and research protocols.