Modern population genetics and race
Publikation: Bidrag til bog/antologi/rapport › Bidrag til bog/antologi › Forskning › fagfællebedømt
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Modern population genetics and race. / Nielsen, Rasmus.
Remapping Race in a Global Context. red. / Ludovica Lorusso; Rasmus Grønfeldt Winther. Routledge, 2022. s. 157-163 (History and Philosophy of Biology).Publikation: Bidrag til bog/antologi/rapport › Bidrag til bog/antologi › Forskning › fagfællebedømt
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TY - CHAP
T1 - Modern population genetics and race
AU - Nielsen, Rasmus
PY - 2022
Y1 - 2022
N2 - Traditional race categories are not scientific hypotheses, and geneticists should, therefore, proceed with caution when discussing the relationship between racial categorizations and patterns of genetic variability. Nonetheless, we might ask if traditional racial categorizations are useful abstractions in genetic research. I argue that there are at least two reasons why they are not. First, decades of research have shown that human genetic variation is clinal in nature so discrete categories are not particularly useful for describing this variation. More importantly, if humans are forced into discrete categories using genetic data, the categories that emerge, when using representative panels, do not coincide with the traditional race categories. I warn against redefining race so that it may better fit observed patterns of genetic variability, because of the potential to mislead the public discourse on race and racialization.
AB - Traditional race categories are not scientific hypotheses, and geneticists should, therefore, proceed with caution when discussing the relationship between racial categorizations and patterns of genetic variability. Nonetheless, we might ask if traditional racial categorizations are useful abstractions in genetic research. I argue that there are at least two reasons why they are not. First, decades of research have shown that human genetic variation is clinal in nature so discrete categories are not particularly useful for describing this variation. More importantly, if humans are forced into discrete categories using genetic data, the categories that emerge, when using representative panels, do not coincide with the traditional race categories. I warn against redefining race so that it may better fit observed patterns of genetic variability, because of the potential to mislead the public discourse on race and racialization.
U2 - 10.4324/9781315208893-13
DO - 10.4324/9781315208893-13
M3 - Book chapter
SN - 978-1-138-63143-4
SN - 978-1-032-15270-7
T3 - History and Philosophy of Biology
SP - 157
EP - 163
BT - Remapping Race in a Global Context
A2 - Lorusso, Ludovica
A2 - Winther, Rasmus Grønfeldt
PB - Routledge
ER -
ID: 336747863