Genism, Racism, and the Prospect of Genetic Genocide
By George J. Annas
| 09. 03. 2001
Prepared for presentation at UNESCO 21st Century Talks: The New Aspects of Racism in the Age of Globalization and the Gene Revolution at the World Conference against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance, Durban, South Africa
I greatly appreciate the opportunity to speak to you on the topic of "Genism, Racism, and the Prospect of Genetic Genocide" in conjunction with the World Conference against Racism. I think there is little doubt that the 21st century will be the century of human genetics. New genetic technologies have the potential not only to change what we can do to ourselves and each other, but more importantly, to change the very way we see ourselves and each other.
Our superficial perceptions of each other have often fostered racism in the past. Simply defined, racism is "the theory that distinctive human characteristics and abilities are determined by race." The hunt for genes, especially in groups identified by racial classifications, could lead to "genism" (a term not yet officially recognized, but one I would define as the theory that distinctive human characteristics and abililites are determined by genes) based on DNA sequence characteristics with resulting discrimination as pernicious as racism.
A second consequence of the new genetics will be a temptation to use our new powers to transform ourselves by attempting...
Related Articles
By Emma McDonald Kennedy
| 04.24.2025
A Review of Eggonomics: The Global Market in Human Eggs and the Donors Who Supply Them by Diane M. Tober
A recent journalistic investigation of the global egg trade at Bloomberg put the industry’s unregulated practices and their exploitative implications back in the spotlight. Diane Tober’s book Eggonomics: The Global Market in Human Eggs and the Donors Who Supply Them, published in October of last year, delves even more deeply into the industry with a thorough examination of egg...
By Staff [cites CGS' Katie Hasson], Radio New Zealand | 04.05.2025
At a time where some countries are struggling with low birth rates, the voices for pronatalism are getting louder. But it’s who’s sounding the call for more babies that has people talking.
Tech giant Elon Musk has fourteen children and...
By Nafeez Ahmed, Byline Times | 04.04.2025
It’s hard to believe, but it’s happening. On 27 March 2025, President Donald Trump issued an Executive Order, ‘Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History’. Among its main concerns was the Smithsonian American Art Museum which, the order complained...
By Staff, The Medicine Maker | 03.21.2025
"The Promise and Peril of CRISPR" cover by Johns Hopkins University Press
As a paediatrician taking care of children with sickle cell disease, Neal Baer, a Harvard Medical School graduate, was in awe of the power of CRISPR technologies. Later...
