Welcome to the very first episode of Sacrificed, a new series in which we share the stories of scientists so passionate about their research, they use themselves as human guinea pigs, subjecting their bodies to dangerous conditions and diseases in a valiant (though sometimes misguided) search for the truth.

Today we bring you the story of John Hunter, an 18th century researcher who sacrificed his own penis (spoiler alert: there is a syringe full of gonorrhea involved), only to pull a real boner—leading to one of the biggest misconceptions in STD history.