Scientists should counter the myth of biological race
By Marcia L. O’Connell, Zachariah I. Grochau-Wright, and Christopher T. Fisher,
The Philadelphia Inquirer
| 09. 20. 2021
The University of Pennsylvania’s medical school apologized last month for unethical experiments on incarcerated, mostly Black men, often without their consent, conducted by longtime faculty member Albert Kligman. In response, Adrienne D. Jones-Alston, daughter of one of the men experimented on, urged Penn to go beyond its apology to “build trust about medical research” and argued for concrete investments in Black lives.
We agree that these efforts are critical. We would add that it is also critical for those in the medical and scientific professions to acknowledge their role in perpetuating the lie that there are different races of humans to begin with — that “races” represent biologically distinct groups.
Science educators, in particular, must speak out with one voice in declaring that there is no biological basis for race. Simultaneously, we must do the difficult — but morally necessary — work of reevaluating scientific studies and medical practices with an eye toward rooting out those that continue to function under the false notion that there is a biological basis for race in humans.
The challenge for science educators is...
Related Articles
By Margaux MacColl, The San Francisco Standard | 09.17.2025
Designer babies are coming soon to an IVF clinic near you.
Nucleus Genomics, founded by Kian Sadeghi in 2020, when he was just 20, got its start analyzing genomes to weigh a person’s risk of everything from cancer to ADHD...
By Johana Bhuiyan, The Guardian | 09.23.2025
In March 2021, a 25-year-old US citizen was traveling through Chicago’s Midway airport when they were stopped by US border patrol agents. Though charged with no crime, the 25-year-old was subjected to a cheek swab to collect their DNA, which...
By Annika Inampudi, Science | 08.01.2025
In June, Sara* received a message asking whether she wanted to continue to participate in a massive, multicenter research project led by scientists at Aarhus University in Denmark. The iPsych study, the message said, had sequenced her genetic data from...
The Center for Genetics and Society is delighted to recommend the current edition of GMWatch Review – Number 589. UK-based GMWatch, a long-standing ally, was founded in 1998 by Jonathan Matthews as an independent organization seeking to counter the enormous corporate political power and propaganda of the GMO industry and its supporters. Matthews and Claire Robinson are its directors and managing editors.
CGS works to ensure that social justice, equity, human rights, and democratic governance are front...