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Saying genetics researchers inconsistently and inappropriately use racial and ethnic labels that fail to capture the complex patterns of human genetic variation, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine issued a report Tuesday calling for a transformation in how such descriptors are used.
Outdated methods of grouping people may result in poor scientific results and misguided interpretations, said the report. “It is time for us to reshape how genetics studies are conceptualized, conducted, and interpreted,” the authors wrote, noting that genomic research is growing exponentially due to technological advances such as cheaper and faster sequencing.
“Genetic data are being taken up by an ever-growing slate of researchers. It’s not just a narrow concern for the study of the human genome,” Ann Morning, a professor of sociology at New York University who served on the report committee, told STAT.
Many researchers use racial and ethnic categories that arise from a federal Office of Management and Budget rule called Statistical Policy Directive 15, which was developed to standardize record-keeping by federal agencies and in the decennial census (and is currently being...