Race and Genetics
Regardless of the way we look at it, race is indeed a subject that has much influence on the social, political as well as economic relations of people. Historically, supposed differences existing between individuals on the basis of race have been developed and sustained for various reasons. This has in some instances turned race into a highly emotive and divisive issue. However, it is important to note that studies have in the past clearly indicated that from a genetic perspective, human beings are largely identical. Thus the existing racial differences are socially constructed.
Why Arguments Citing Genetic Differences between the Races are Flawed
In the opinion of Delgado and Stefancic (2000), there is no single gene or even gene cluster that can be said to play a role in the determination of the race of an individual. For instance, the author notes that a look at the various genetic characteristics of blacks and those of non-blacks does not bring to the fore any existing differences. However, it is important to note that the vast majority of the minimal differences that do...
Genetics Option 3: Darwin's Perspective According to Darwin, the survival of a species is determined by the degree of strength of its members. Thus, the "fittest" in terms of physical prowess as well as to a degree mental capacity survives. Human beings have long used their mental capacity to overcome the challenges of the physical environment. The very first discoveries of tools, fire and the wheel have set the species apart from
Race: The Power of an Illusion The constructed notion of race, as reinforced through good science, is also reinforced throughout the first episode of this PBS documentary. In the past, poor and racist science has attempted to classify human individuals according to racial categories and failed miserably. However, good science shows that the very notion of racial separations between individuals of different geographies and cultures is in fact specious, and genetically,
Canine Behavior: Genetics vs. Environment The debate over nature vs. nurture as it applies to learning dates back over a hundred years. Certainly, during much of the 20th century, the distinction between learned and inherited behavior appeared much clearer than it does today. The concept that any type of behavior was either learned or merely developed without learning seemed a rationale and straightforward belief. Research based on these expectations caused
Fiction of Race Race Race: The cultural power of the fiction of race A recent PBS documentary was titled Race: The power of an illusion. This underlines what constitutes race -- race is a fiction, created by the faulty observational perceptions of human beings, and the history of human culture. Race is not a scientific reality. Because we can see color (and hair texture, facial shapes, and other characteristics) we perceive something we
cheap genomic sequencing has widespread and unforeseen cultural, political, and societal implications that have only just begun to reverberate through the human population at large. Genomic sequencing not only reveals some of the causes and connections behind certain diseases or disorders, but also puts the lie to certain forms of bigotry which assumed that dramatic phenotypic differences represented a similarly dramatic genetic or biological difference (put another way, genome
Since the antigens are closely linked to race and ethnicity, it is much easier to find a biological match among people with similar ethnic and racial backgrounds than it is among any two randomly selected individuals. On the basis of tissue matching, organs from blacks will almost always go to blacks and organs from whites will almost always go to whites. Blacks, however, have a much higher incidence of
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