In one example that demonstrated genetic differences were not fixed along racial lines, the full genomes of James Watson and Craig Venter , two famous American scientists of European ancestry, were compared to that of a Korean scientist , Seong-Jin Kim.
It turned out that Watson who, ironically, became ostracized in the scientific community after making racist remarks and Venter shared fewer variations in their genetic sequences than they each shared with Kim. Assumptions about genetic differences between people of different races have had obvious social and historical repercussions, and they still threaten to fuel racist beliefs. That was apparent two years ago, when several scientists bristled at the inclusion of their research in Nicholas Wade's controversial book, "A Troublesome Inheritance" Penguin Press, , which proposed that genetic selection has given rise to distinct behaviors among different populations.
In a letter to The New York Times , five researchers wrote that "Wade juxtaposes an incomplete and inaccurate account of our research on human genetic differences with speculation that recent natural selection has led to worldwide differences in IQ test results, political institutions and economic development. The authors of the new Science article noted that racial assumptions could also be particularly dangerous in a medical setting.
In the paper, he and his colleagues used the example of cystic fibrosis, which is underdiagnosed in people of African ancestry because it is thought of as a "white" disease. Mindy Fullilove, a psychiatrist at Columbia University, thinks the changes proposed in the Science article are "badly needed. And it will make for better science. So what other variables could be used if the racial concept is thrown out?
However, he added that, in North America, where the majority of the population has come from different parts of the world during the past years, distinctions like "African Americans" or "European Americans" might still work as a proxy to suggest where a person's major ancestry originated. Yudell also said scientists need to get more specific with their language, perhaps using terms like " ancestry " or "population" that might more precisely reflect the relationship between humans and their genes, on both the individual and population level.
The researchers also acknowledged that there are a few areas where race as a construct might still be useful in scientific research: as a political and social, but not biological, variable. The chatter over Rachel Dolezal's identity highlights America's growing racial ambiguity. Durrow, novelist. Kevin Noble Maillard, Syracuse University. Nancy Leong, University of Denver. Please upgrade your browser. See next articles.
The Opinion Pages. Unlike race and racial identity, the social, political and economic meanings of race, or rather belonging to particular racial groups, have not been fluid. How Fluid Is Race? Read More ». Related Discussions. New Terms for Nafta? First, race is inaccurately used as a proxy for geography. Certain diseases or conditions originate in particular areas of the world where the environment has caused an evolutionary response or genetic impact.
Sickle Cell Anemia, for example, is an evolutionary adaptation to malaria exposure , and is most common in populations with ancestors that lived in regions of the world where malaria is or was common.
So while we see it at higher rates in people of Sub-Saharan African descent, we also see it in higher rates of people of Mediterranean, Middle Eastern, and Indian descent, because malaria is or was widespread in those regions. The other aspect of what we see as racial health differences is explained by the field of epigenetics.
So, the incidence of a disease or condition within a racial group might actually be caused by environmental, political, economic, and other forms of systemic racism. For example, pre-term births are 60 percent more common with black babies than white babies, which is a leading contributor to our unacceptably high infant mortality rate.
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