In this section, we investigate how racism has influenced the field of genomics, a theme central to Roberts' "Fatal Invention." Here, we examine the dangers of conflating race with genetic difference, which can perpetuate racial stereotypes and contribute to health disparities. By shedding light on the interplay between racism and genomics, we hope to encourage a more nuanced, critical approach to genetic research, one that recognizes the social, rather than biological, nature of racial categorizations
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Photo by Edward Jenner: https://www.pexels.com/photo/glass-blur-bubble-health-4033022/ADMIXTURE MAPPING: a method used to identify genetic variants associated with traits and/or diseases in ethnic groups whose genomes resulted from a recent mixture of two geographically distinct ancestral populations (NIH NCI, 2023. Link here.)
CRITICISMS OF: race is a social construct, not a biological or genetic one. Genomics must strive to avoid conflating or confusing race with genetic ancestry
KEY READINGS:
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In a report published by the Institute for Healing and Justice in Medicine, and the Othering and Beloning Institute, Noor Chada, Bernadette Lim, Madeleine Kane, and Brendly Rowland call for the complete cessation of the use of biological race in medicine. This work is a call to action, as the "biologizing" of race in medicine continues to have devastating and lethal consequences for members of our communities. Click here to access this key work.Click here to read NPR's "Is it Time to Stop Using Race in Medical Research" for an even deeper dive. Click here to read "A Field at a Crossroads: Genetic and Racial Mythmaking" as geneticists ponder the implications of science, racism, and the future.
Photo by RF._.studio: https://www.pexels.com/photo/crop-chemist-holding-in-hands-molecule-model-3825527/
