World’s largest body of human geneticists apologizes for eugenics role

The world’s largest and best-known group of human geneticists apologized Tuesday for the role some of its early leaders played in the American eugenics movement, as well as the harmful ways the field has been used to fuel racism and discrimination. The 8,000-member American Society of Human Genetics “seeks to reckon with, and sincerely apologizes for, its involvement in and silence on the misuse of human genetics research to justify and contribute to injustice in all forms,” the 75-year-old organization’s board of directors said in a statement. The dramatic gesture comes two decades after the conclusion of the Human Genome Project, which revealed that humans worldwide share 99.9 percent of their genetic material. As a result, geneticists have reached a global consensus that “race” is purely a social construct — albeit one with real-world consequences — with no basis in biology. The apology also comes amid a rise in hate crimes and mass killings inspired by white supremacy and baseless claims about the country’s demographic makeup.

The society’s decision to apologize follows an 18-month investigation prompted by the 2020 protests...