Editing Race and genetics (section)

{{Short description|Relevance of genotype to race classification}}
{{use dmy dates|date=July 2024}}
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{{Race}}

Researchers have investigated the relationship between '''race and genetics''' as part of efforts to understand how biology may or may not contribute to [[Race (human categorization)|human racial categorization]]. Today, the consensus among scientists is that race is a [[social construct]], and that using it as a proxy for genetic differences among populations is misleading.<ref name=":8">{{Cite book |url=https://nap.nationalacademies.org/read/26902/chapter/1 |title=Using Population Descriptors in Genetics and Genomics Research: A New Framework for an Evolving Field (Consensus Study Report) |date=2023 |publisher=[[National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine]] |doi=10.17226/26902 |pmid=36989389 |isbn=978-0-309-70065-8 |quote=In humans, race is a socially constructed designation, a misleading and harmful surrogate for population genetic differences, and has a long history of being incorrectly identified as the major genetic reason for phenotypic differences between groups.}}</ref><ref name=":4">{{Cite web |date=14 March 2023 |title=Researchers Need to Rethink and Justify How and Why Race, Ethnicity, and Ancestry Labels Are Used in Genetics and Genomics Research, Says New Report |url=https://www.nationalacademies.org/news/2023/03/researchers-need-to-rethink-and-justify-how-and-why-race-ethnicity-and-ancestry-labels-are-used-in-genetics-and-genomics-research-says-new-report |website=National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine |quote=Researchers and scientists who utilize genetic and genomic data should rethink and justify how and why they use race, ethnicity, and ancestry labels in their work, says a new National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine report. The report says researchers should not use race as a proxy for describing human genetic variation. Race is a social concept, but it is often used in genomics and genetics research as a surrogate for describing human genetic differences, which is misleading, inaccurate, and harmful.}}</ref>

Many constructions of race are associated with [[Phenotype|phenotypical]] traits and geographic ancestry, and scholars like [[Carl Linnaeus]] have proposed scientific models for the organization of race since at least the 18th century. Following the discovery of [[Mendelian inheritance|Mendelian genetics]] and the [[Human Genome Project|mapping of the human genome]], questions about the biology of race have often been framed in terms of [[genetics]].<ref name=":3">{{Cite book|last=Goodman|first=Alan H.|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1121420797|title=Race : are we so different?|date=2020|others=Yolanda T. Moses, Joseph L. Jones|isbn=978-1-119-47247-6|edition=Second|location=Hoboken, NJ|oclc=1121420797|access-date=2021-04-08|archive-date=2021-05-25|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210525024950/https://www.worldcat.org/title/race-are-we-so-different/oclc/1121420797|url-status=live |publisher=Wiley Blackwell}}</ref> A wide range of research methods have been employed to examine patterns of human variation and their relations to ancestry and racial groups, including studies of individual traits,<ref>{{Cite book|last=Jablonski|first=Nina G.|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/64592114|title=Skin : a natural history|date=2006|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=0-520-24281-5|location=Berkeley|oclc=64592114|access-date=2021-04-08|archive-date=2021-05-25|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210525033647/https://www.worldcat.org/title/skin-a-natural-history/oclc/64592114|url-status=live}}</ref> studies of large populations and genetic clusters,<ref name='Rosenberg2002'>{{Cite journal|last1=Rosenberg|first1=Noah A.|author-link1=Noah Rosenberg|last2=Pritchard|first2=Jonathan K.|author-link2=Jonathan Pritchard|last3=Weber|first3=James L.|last4=Cann|first4=Howard M.|last5=Kidd|first5=Kenneth K.|author-link5=Kenneth Kidd|last6=Zhivotovsky|first6=Lev A.|last7=Feldman|first7=Marcus W.|author-link7=Marcus Feldman|date=2002-12-20|title=Genetic structure of human populations|url=https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12493913|journal=Science|volume=298|issue=5602|pages=2381–2385|doi=10.1126/science.1078311|issn=1095-9203|pmid=12493913|bibcode=2002Sci...298.2381R|s2cid=8127224|access-date=2021-04-08|archive-date=2021-04-30|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210430225146/https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12493913/|url-status=live}}</ref> and studies of genetic risk factors for disease.<ref name='LorussoBacchini'>{{Cite journal|last1=Lorusso|first1=Ludovica|last2=Bacchini|first2=Fabio|date=August 2015|title=A reconsideration of the role of self-identified races in epidemiology and biomedical research|url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S1369848615000345|journal=Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part C: Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences|language=en|volume=52|pages=56–64|doi=10.1016/j.shpsc.2015.02.004|pmid=25791919|access-date=2021-04-08|archive-date=2021-03-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308195827/https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S1369848615000345|url-status=live}}</ref>

Research into race and genetics has also been criticized as emerging from, or contributing to, [[scientific racism]]. Genetic studies of traits and populations have been used to justify [[Racial inequality|social inequalities associated with race]],<ref>{{Cite book|last=Saini|first=Angela|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1091260230|title=Superior : the return of race science|date=2019|isbn=978-0-8070-7691-0|location=Boston|oclc=1091260230|access-date=2021-04-08|archive-date=2021-08-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210808083306/https://www.worldcat.org/title/superior-the-return-of-race-science/oclc/1091260230|url-status=live |publisher=Beacon Press}}</ref> despite the fact that patterns of human variation have been shown to be mostly [[Cline (biology)|clinal]],<ref>{{Cite book|last=Marks|first=Jonathan|url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/961801723|title=Is science racist?|date=2017|isbn=978-0-7456-8921-0|location=Malden, MA|oclc=961801723|access-date=2021-04-08|archive-date=2021-05-02|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210502185326/https://www.worldcat.org/title/is-science-racist/oclc/961801723|url-status=live |publisher=Polity}}</ref> with human genetic code being approximately 99.6% – 99.9% identical between individuals and without clear  boundaries between groups.<ref>{{Cite web |date=27 March 2019 |title=AABA Statement on Race & Racism |url=https://bioanth.org/about/aaba-statement-on-race-racism/ |website=American Association of Biological Anthropologists}}</ref><ref name='Tishkoff&Kidd2004'>{{cite journal |last1=Tishkoff |first1=Sarah A |last2=Kidd |first2=Kenneth K |author1-link=Sarah Tishkoff |author2-link=Kenneth Kidd |title=Implications of biogeography of human populations for 'race' and medicine |journal=Nature Genetics |date=26 October 2004 |volume=36 |issue=11 |doi=10.1038/ng1438 |pmid=15507999 |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/ng1438 |access-date=26 June 2024 |series=Supplemental |pages=S21-7 |publisher=[[Nature Portfolio]] |s2cid=1500915}}</ref>

Some researchers have argued that race can act as a proxy for genetic ancestry because individuals of the same racial category may share a common ancestry, but this view has fallen increasingly out of favor among experts.<ref name=":4" /><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Kaiser |first=Jocelyn |date=11 March 2023 |title=Geneticists should rethink how they use race and ethnicity, panel urges |url=https://www.science.org/content/article/geneticists-should-rethink-how-they-use-race-and-ethnicity-panel-urges |journal=Science}}</ref> The mainstream view is that it is necessary to distinguish between biology and the social, political, cultural, and economic factors that contribute to conceptions of race.<ref name='AABAstatement'>{{cite press release |title=AABA (AAPA) Statement on Race & Racism |last1=Ackermann |first1=Rebecca |last2=Athreya |first2=Sheela |last3=Bolnick |first3=Deborah |last4=Fuentes |first4=Agustín |author-link4=Agustín Fuentes |last5=Lasisi |first5=Tina |last6=Lee |first6=Sang-Hee |last7=McLean |first7=Shay-Akil |last8=Nelson |first8=Robin |url=https://physanth.org/about/position-statements/aapa-statement-race-and-racism-2019/ |year=2019 |access-date=2024-06-26}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Bamshad|first1=Michael|last2=Wooding|first2=Stephen|last3=Salisbury|first3=Benjamin A.|last4=Stephens|first4=J. Claiborne|date=August 2004|title=Deconstructing the relationship between genetics and race|url=http://www.nature.com/articles/nrg1401|journal=Nature Reviews Genetics|language=en|volume=5|issue=8|pages=598–609|doi=10.1038/nrg1401|pmid=15266342|s2cid=12378279|issn=1471-0056|access-date=2021-04-08|archive-date=2021-06-10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210610120335/https://www.nature.com/articles/nrg1401|url-status=live}}</ref>

Phenotype may have a tangential connection to DNA, but it is still only a rough proxy that would omit various other genetic information.<ref name=":4" /><ref>{{Cite web |first=Megan |last=Gannon |title=Race Is a Social Construct, Scientists Argue |url=https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/race-is-a-social-construct-scientists-argue/ |access-date=2024-03-12 |website=Scientific American |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |website=ScienceNews |first=Tina |last=Hesman Saey|date=2023-03-14 |title=Why experts recommend ditching racial labels in genetic studies |url=https://www.sciencenews.org/article/race-label-genetic-stigma-diversity |access-date=2024-03-12 |language=en-US}}</ref> Today, in a somewhat similar way that "gender" is differentiated from the more clear "biological sex", scientists state that potentially "race" / phenotype can be differentiated from the more clear "ancestry".<ref>{{Cite web |first=Vivian |last=Chou |date=2017-04-18 |title=How Science and Genetics are Reshaping the Race Debate of the 21st Century |url=https://sitn.hms.harvard.edu/flash/2017/science-genetics-reshaping-race-debate-21st-century/ |access-date=2024-03-12 |website=Science in the News |language=en-US}}</ref> However, this system has also still come under scrutiny as it may fall into the same problems – which would be large, vague groupings with little genetic value.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Lewis |first=Anna C. F. |date=2022-05-02 |title=Substituting genetic ancestry for race in research? Not so fast |url=https://www.statnews.com/2022/05/02/substituting-genetic-ancestry-for-race-in-research-not-so-fast/ |access-date=2024-03-12 |website=STAT |language=en-US}}</ref>