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Race as a social construct? Race as biological categories that correlate with geographical origin(s)? The early fruits of the genomic era seem to be providing new grist for this ongoing debate. In deed, all people are more alike than we are different. But, when scientists look into the genetic similarities and differences between people, they find that people who share more recent ancestry have unique similarities not shared by people who come from different geographical areas of the globe. However, there is growing fear that these small changes may be linked to traits with either high or low social value, which may result in science seeming to justify prejudicial stereotypes. In deed, the recent comments from James Watson on race and intelligence and social policies were unfortunate and roundly rejected, but serve to illustrate that these concerns may be justified. As scientists, we must not suppress facts that are revealed by research, but we also must always keep in mind that potential social and ethical consequences as facts are interpreted from different perspectives.
Amy Harmon has an interesting story on these issues in the New York Times today.
Comments
We hope and expect that the developments of dna technology be used for medical advances over health issues for the benefits of worldwide health. Ethical and social issues are always matters of concern.
God Bless
Posted by: Eladio | May 8, 2008 02:10 PM