Typological thinking in human genomics research contributes to the production and prominence of scientific racism
Public genomic datasets like the 1000 Genomes project (1KGP), Human Genome Diversity Project (HGDP), and the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study are valuable public resources that facilitate scientific advancements in biology and enhance the scientific and economic impact of federall...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2024-02-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Genetics |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fgene.2024.1345631/full |
| _version_ | 1797303312397107200 |
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| author | Kevin A. Bird Jedidiah Carlson |
| author_facet | Kevin A. Bird Jedidiah Carlson |
| author_sort | Kevin A. Bird |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Public genomic datasets like the 1000 Genomes project (1KGP), Human Genome Diversity Project (HGDP), and the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study are valuable public resources that facilitate scientific advancements in biology and enhance the scientific and economic impact of federally funded research projects. Regrettably, these datasets have often been developed and studied in ways that propagate outdated racialized and typological thinking, leading to fallacious reasoning among some readers that social and health disparities among the so-called races are due in part to innate biological differences between them. We highlight how this framing has set the stage for the racist exploitation of these datasets in two ways: First, we discuss the use of public biomedical datasets in studies that claim support for innate genetic differences in intelligence and other social outcomes between the groups identified as races. We further highlight recent instances of this which involve unauthorized access, use, and dissemination of public datasets. Second, we discuss the memification, use of simple figures meant for quick dissemination among lay audiences, of population genetic data to argue for a biological basis for purported human racial groups. We close with recommendations for scientists, to preempt the exploitation and misuse of their data, and for funding agencies, to better enforce violations of data use agreements. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-07T23:51:02Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-58f8bbd95da24a2190f0eddc1127a852 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1664-8021 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-07T23:51:02Z |
| publishDate | 2024-02-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Genetics |
| spelling | doaj.art-58f8bbd95da24a2190f0eddc1127a8522024-02-19T04:57:01ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Genetics1664-80212024-02-011510.3389/fgene.2024.13456311345631Typological thinking in human genomics research contributes to the production and prominence of scientific racismKevin A. Bird0Jedidiah Carlson1Department of Plant Sciences, University of California, Davis, CA, United StatesDepartment of Integrative Biology and Department of Population Health, University of Texas, Austin, TX, United StatesPublic genomic datasets like the 1000 Genomes project (1KGP), Human Genome Diversity Project (HGDP), and the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study are valuable public resources that facilitate scientific advancements in biology and enhance the scientific and economic impact of federally funded research projects. Regrettably, these datasets have often been developed and studied in ways that propagate outdated racialized and typological thinking, leading to fallacious reasoning among some readers that social and health disparities among the so-called races are due in part to innate biological differences between them. We highlight how this framing has set the stage for the racist exploitation of these datasets in two ways: First, we discuss the use of public biomedical datasets in studies that claim support for innate genetic differences in intelligence and other social outcomes between the groups identified as races. We further highlight recent instances of this which involve unauthorized access, use, and dissemination of public datasets. Second, we discuss the memification, use of simple figures meant for quick dissemination among lay audiences, of population genetic data to argue for a biological basis for purported human racial groups. We close with recommendations for scientists, to preempt the exploitation and misuse of their data, and for funding agencies, to better enforce violations of data use agreements.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fgene.2024.1345631/fullgenomicsracescientific racismtypological thinkingopen sciencegenetic ancestry |
| spellingShingle | Kevin A. Bird Jedidiah Carlson Typological thinking in human genomics research contributes to the production and prominence of scientific racism Frontiers in Genetics genomics race scientific racism typological thinking open science genetic ancestry |
| title | Typological thinking in human genomics research contributes to the production and prominence of scientific racism |
| title_full | Typological thinking in human genomics research contributes to the production and prominence of scientific racism |
| title_fullStr | Typological thinking in human genomics research contributes to the production and prominence of scientific racism |
| title_full_unstemmed | Typological thinking in human genomics research contributes to the production and prominence of scientific racism |
| title_short | Typological thinking in human genomics research contributes to the production and prominence of scientific racism |
| title_sort | typological thinking in human genomics research contributes to the production and prominence of scientific racism |
| topic | genomics race scientific racism typological thinking open science genetic ancestry |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fgene.2024.1345631/full |
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