The Genomic Revolution and Beliefs about Essential Racial Differences: A Backdoor to Eugenics?

Residential Structural Racism and Prevalence of Chronic Health Conditions

Importance

Studies elucidating determinants of residential neighborhood-level health inequities are needed.

Objective

To quantify associations of structural racism indicators with neighborhood prevalence of chronic kidney disease (CKD), diabetes, and hypertension.

Design, Setting, and Participants

This cross-sectional study used public data (2012-2018) and deidentified electronic health records (2017-2018) to describe the burden of structural racism and the prevalence of CKD, diabetes, and hypertension in 150 residential neighborhoods in Durham County, North Carolina, from US census block groups and quantified their associations using bayesian models accounting for spatial correlations and residents' age. Data were analyzed from January 2021 to May 2023.

Exposures

Global (neighborhood percentage of White residents, economic-racial segregation, and area deprivation) and discrete (neighborhood child care centers, bus stops, tree cover, reported violent crime, impervious areas, evictions, election participation, income, poverty, education, unemployment, health insurance coverage, and police shootings) indicators of structural racism.

Main Outcomes and Measures

Outcomes of interest were neighborhood prevalence of CKD, diabetes, and hypertension.

Results

A total of 150 neighborhoods with a median (IQR) of 1708 (1109-2489) residents; median (IQR) of 2% (0%-6%) Asian residents, 30% (16%-56%) Black residents, 10% (4%-20%) Hispanic or Latino residents, 0% (0%-1%) Indigenous residents, and 44% (18%-70%) White residents; and median (IQR) residential income of $54 531 ($37 729.25-$78 895.25) were included in analyses. In models evaluating global indicators, greater burden of structural racism was associated with greater prevalence of CKD, diabetes, and hypertension (eg, per 1-SD decrease in neighborhood White population percentage: CKD prevalence ratio [PR], 1.27; 95% highest density interval [HDI], 1.18-1.35; diabetes PR, 1.43; 95% HDI, 1.37-1.52; hypertension PR, 1.19; 95% HDI, 1.14-1.25). Similarly in models evaluating discrete indicators, greater burden of structural racism was associated with greater neighborhood prevalence of CKD, diabetes, and hypertension (eg, per 1-SD increase in reported violent crime: CKD PR, 1.15; 95% HDI, 1.07-1.23; diabetes PR, 1.20; 95% HDI, 1.13-1.28; hypertension PR, 1.08; 95% HDI, 1.02-1.14).

Conclusions and Relevance

This cross-sectional study found several global and discrete structural racism indicators associated with increased prevalence of health conditions in residential neighborhoods. Although inferences from this cross-sectional and ecological study warrant caution, they may help guide the development of future community health interventions.

Scientific supremacy: How do genetic narratives relate to racism?

Recent research suggests that contemporary American society is marked by heightened hostile racial rhetoric, alongside increasing salience of White nationalists who justify an ideology of racial hierarchy with claims of biological superiority. Media coverage of such genetics research has often emphasized a deterministic (or causal) narrative by suggesting that specific genes directly increase negative outcomes and highlighting reported genetic differences between racial groups. Across two experimental studies, we examine the effect of the media's portrayal of scientific findings linking genes with negative health and behavioral outcomes on measures of racism. We find that deterministic genetic attributions for health and behavioral outcomes can lead to more negative racial out-group attitudes. Importantly, we also investigate potential interventions in the presentation of genetic science research. Our research has implications for understanding racial attitudes and racialized ideology in contemporary American politics, as well as for framing scientific communication in intergroup contexts.

Racial, Gender, and Size Bias in a Medical Graphical Abstract Gallery: A Content Analysis

Introduction

Graphical abstracts may enhance dissemination of scientific and medical research but are also prone to reductionism and bias. We conducted a systematic content analysis of the Journal of Internal Medicine (JIM) Graphical Abstract Gallery to assess for evidence of bias.

Materials and Methods

We analyzed 140 graphical abstracts published by JIM between February 2019 and May 2020. Using a combination of inductive and deductive approaches, we developed a set of codes and code definitions for thematic, mixed-methods analysis.

Results

We found that JIM graphical abstracts disproportionately emphasized male (59.5%) and light-skinned (91.3%) bodies, stigmatized large body size, and overstated genetic and behavioral causes of disease, even relative to the articles they purportedly represented. Whereas 50.7% of the graphical surface area was coded as representing genetic factors, just 0.4% represented the social environment.

Discussion

Our analysis suggests evidence of bias and reductionism promoting normative white male bodies, linking large bodies with disease and death, conflating race with genetics, and overrepresenting genes while underrepresenting the environment as a driver of health and illness. These findings suggest that uncritical use of graphical abstracts may distort rather than enhance our understanding of disease; harm patients who are minoritized by race, gender, or body size; and direct attention away from dismantling the structural barriers to health equity.

Conclusion

We recommend that journals develop standards for mitigating bias in the publication of graphical abstracts that (1) ensure diverse skin tone and gender representation, (2) mitigate weight bias, (3) avoid racial or ethnic essentialism, and (4) attend to sociostructural contributors to disease.

Science, Society, and Dismantling Racism

As a foundational pillar of the Truth, Racial Healing & Transformation framework, Narrative Change involves reckoning with our historical and current realities regarding "race" and racism, uprooting dominant narratives that normalize injustice and sustain oppression, and advancing narratives that promote equity and collective liberation. Narrative Change is vital to creating communal recognition and appreciation of the interconnectedness and equality of all humans and dismantling the ideology and structures of racial hierarchy. Telling new or more truthful and complete stories must include improving our understanding and messaging about what race is and what it is not as well as the relationship between race and racism. Ideas about the existence of biological human races have long been discredited by scientists and scholars in various fields. Yet, false beliefs about natural and fixed biological differences within the human species persist in some scientific studies, in aspects of health care, and in the political and legal architectures of the United States and other countries, thereby reproducing and maintaining social hierarchies. Efforts to eradicate racism and its pernicious effects are limited in their potential for sustained positive transformation unless simultaneous endeavors are undertaken to reframe people's thinking about the very concept of race. This brief provides an overview of the origins of racial hierarchy, distinguishes between biological concepts of race and socially defined race, reviews perspectives on the meanings and uses of race, and describes ongoing and potential efforts to address prevailing misunderstandings about race and racism.

Perceptions of racial essentialism and social identity threat

While past research documents essentialist beliefs’ (i.e., believing social groups have inherent, unchangeable traits) impact on prejudice, no research has explored if stigmatized groups perceive essentialism as indicative of bias. With a sample of participants diverse in race and sexual orientation, we document that endorsers of racial essentialism were perceived as more likely to be racist and also as more likely to be sexist and heterosexist, relative to nonendorsers (Studies 1–2). As some essentialist beliefs about sexual orientation are associated with progay attitudes, another experiment parsed out dimensions of racial essentialism (i.e., natural kind and entitative beliefs) and examined differences in White sexual minorities’ expectations of bias from this race-based cue. Findings indicate that both essentialism dimensions elicited identity threat with potential consequences for sexual minorities’ desire to conceal their sexual orientation; thus, we broaden conceptualizations of cues that elicit identity threat while exploring nuances of the impact of perceiver identity and essentialism type.

The Core Concepts, Competencies and Grand Challenges of Comparative Vertebrate Anatomy and Morphology

Core concepts offer coherence to the discourse of a scientific discipline and facilitate teaching by identifying large unifying themes that can be tailored to the level of the class and expertise of the instructor. This approach to teaching has been shown to encourage deeper learning that can be integrated across subdisciplines of biology and has been adopted by several other biology subdisciplines. However, Comparative Vertebrate Anatomy, although one of the oldest biological areas of study, has not had its core concepts identified. Here, we present five core concepts and seven competencies (skills) for Comparative Vertebrate Anatomy that came out of an iterative process of engagement with the broader community of vertebrate morphologists over a 3-year period. The core concepts are (A) evolution, (B) structure and function, (C) morphological development, (D) integration, and (E) human anatomy is the result of vertebrate evolution. The core competencies students should gain from the study of comparative vertebrate anatomy are (F) tree thinking, (G) observation, (H) dissection of specimens, (I) depiction of anatomy, (J) appreciation of the importance of natural history collections, (K) science communication, and (L) data integration. We offer a succinct description of each core concept and competency, examples of learning outcomes that could be used to assess teaching effectiveness, and examples of relevant resources for both instructors and students. Additionally, we pose a grand challenge to the community, arguing that the field of Comparative Vertebrate Anatomy needs to acknowledge racism, androcentrism, homophobia, genocide, slavery, and other influences in its history and address their lingering effects in order to move forward as a thriving discipline that is inclusive of all students and scientists and continues to generate unbiased knowledge for the betterment of humanity. Despite the rigorous process used to compile these core concepts and competencies, we anticipate that they will serve as a framework for an ongoing conversation that ensures Comparative Vertebrate Anatomy remains a relevant field in discovery, innovation, and training of future generations of scientists.

Use of Race in Kidney Research and Medicine: Concepts, Principles, and Practice

Black Americans and other racially and ethnically minoritized individuals are disproportionately burdened by higher morbidity and mortality from kidney disease when compared with their White peers. Yet, kidney researchers and clinicians have struggled to fully explain or rectify causes of these inequalities. Many studies have sought to identify hypothesized genetic and/or ancestral origins of biologic or behavioral deficits as singular explanations for racial and ethnic inequalities in kidney health. However, these approaches reinforce essentialist beliefs that racial groups are inherently biologically and behaviorally different. These approaches also often conflate the complex interactions of individual-level biologic differences with aggregated population-level disparities that are due to structural racism (i.e., sociopolitical policies and practices that created and perpetuate harmful health outcomes through inequities of opportunities and resources). We review foundational misconceptions about race, racism, genetics, and ancestry that shape research and clinical practice with a focus on kidney disease and related health outcomes. We also provide recommendations on how to embed key equity-enhancing concepts, terms, and principles into research, clinical practice, and medical publishing standards.

Ending genetic essentialism through genetics education

Genetic concepts are regularly used in arguments about racial inequality. This review summarizes research about the relationship between genetics education and a particular form of racial prejudice known as genetic essentialism. Genetic essentialism is a cognitive form of prejudice that is used to rationalize inequality. Studies suggest that belief in genetic essentialism among genetics students can be increased or decreased based on what students learn about human genetics and why they learn it. Research suggests that genetics education does little to prevent the development of genetic essentialism, and it may even exacerbate belief in it. However, some forms of genetics education can avert this problem. In particular, if instructors teach genetics to help students understand the flaws in genetic essentialist arguments, then it is possible to reduce belief in genetic essentialism among biology students. This review outlines our knowledge about how to accomplish this goal and the research that needs to be done to end genetic essentialism through genetics education.

Evaluating the Impact and Rationale of Race-Specific Estimations of Kidney Function: Estimations from U.S. NHANES, 2015-2018

BACKGROUND

Standard equations for estimating glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) employ race multipliers, systematically inflating eGFR for Black patients. Such inflation is clinically significant because eGFR thresholds of 60, 30, and 20 ml/min/1.73m2 guide kidney disease management. Racialized adjustment of eGFR in Black Americans may thereby affect their clinical care. In this study, we analyze and extrapolate national data to assess potential impacts of the eGFR race adjustment on qualification for kidney disease diagnosis, nephrologist referral, and transplantation listing.

METHODS

Using population-representative cross-sectional data from the United States National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) from 2015-2018, eGFR values for Black Americans were calculated using the Modification of Diet in Renal Disease (MDRD) equation with and without the 1.21 race-specific coefficient using cohort data on age, sex, race, and serum creatinine.

FINDINGS

Without the MDRD eGFR race adjustment, 3.3 million (10.4%) more Black Americans would reach a diagnostic threshold for Stage 3 Chronic Kidney Disease, 300,000 (0.7%) more would qualify for beneficial nephrologist referral, and 31,000 (0.1%) more would become eligible for transplant evaluation and waitlist inclusion.

INTERPRETATION

These findings suggest eGFR race coefficients may contribute to racial differences in the management of kidney. We provide recommendations for addressing this issue at institutional and individual levels.

FUNDING

No external funding was received for this study.

Reconstructing Sociogenomics Research: Dismantling Biological Race and Genetic Essentialism Narratives

We detail the implications of sociogenomics for social determinants research. We focus on education and race because of how early twentieth-century scientific eugenic thinking facilitated a range of racist and eugenic policies, most of which helped justify and pattern racial and educational morbidity and mortality disparities that remain today, and are central to sociological research. Consequently, we detail the implications of sociogenomics research by unpacking key controversies and opportunities in sociogenomics as they pertain to the understanding of racial and educational inequalities. We clarify why race is not a valid biological or genetic construct, the ways that environments powerfully shape genetic influence, and risks linked to this field of research. We argue that sociologists can usefully engage in genetics research, a domain dominated by psychologists and behaviorists who, given their focus on individuals, have mostly not examined the role of history and social structure in shaping genetic influence.

Framework for understanding health inequalities over the life course: the embodiment dynamic and biological mechanisms of exogenous and endogenous origin

Understanding how structural, social and psychosocial factors come to affect our health resulting in health inequalities is more relevant now than ever as trends in mortality gaps between rich and poor appear to have widened over the past decades. To move beyond description, we need to hypothesise about how structural and social factors may cause health outcomes. In this paper, we examine the construction of health over the life course through the lens of influential theoretical work. Based on concepts developed by scholars from different disciplines, we propose a novel framework for research on social-to-biological processes which may be important contributors to health inequalities. We define two broad sets of mechanisms that may help understand how socially structured exposures become embodied: mechanisms of exogenous and endogenous origin. We describe the embodiment dynamic framework, its uses and how it may be combined with an intersectional approach to examine how intermeshed oppressions affect social exposures which may be expressed biologically. We explain the usefulness of this framework as a tool for carrying out research and providing scientific evidence to challenge genetic essentialism, often used to dismiss social inequalities in health.

"Quiet is the New Loud": The Biosociology Debate's Absent Voices

In 2000, a controversial article about hormones and gender roles was published to stimulate debate about whether and how biological knowledge should be integrated in sociological research. Two decades later, this so-called biosociology debate is more relevant than ever, as biological knowledge has become widespread across societies and scientific disciplines. Hence, we as sociologists are regularly confronted with biological explanations that challenge our own explanations. Whether this happens in the scientific arena, the classroom, media, or even at social events, these situations often force us, individually, to take a stance on whether to meet such explanations with dialogue or opposition. One could therefore expect that sociologists have an interest in discussing these issues with their peers, but their lack of participation in the biosociology debate suggests otherwise. This paper explores possible reasons for this absence and how sociologists' views on biosociology are influenced by key agents - sociological associations and journals. Smith's "A Sacred project of American Sociology", and Scott's "A Sociology of Nothing" served as theoretical tools in the paper. A qualitative content analysis of presidential addresses of four sociological associations was conducted. The analyses suggest that sociologist avoid biosociology for widely different reasons, including fear that biosociology legitimizes oppression. This avoidance is probably reinforced by the leftish politization of the sociological discipline and the rightish politization of society. Overcoming obstacles to engagement in biosociology is required to safeguard the scientific integrity of sociology and enable sociologists to provide relevant contributions to research on the Covid-19 pandemic and climate change.

Racial and Ethnic Inequities in Mortality During Hospitalization for Traumatic Brain Injury: A Call to Action

The health disparities which drive inequities in health outcomes have long plagued our already worn healthcare system and are often dismissed as being a result of social determinants of health. Herein, we explore the nature of these inequities by comparing outcomes for racial and ethnic minorities patients suffering from traumatic brain injury (TBI). We retrospectively reviewed all patients enrolled in the Trauma One Database at the Oregon Health & Science University Hospital from 2006 to October 2017 with an abbreviated injury scale (AIS) for the head or neck >2. Racial and ethnic minority patients were defined as non-White or Hispanic. A total of 6,352 patients were included in our analysis with 1,504 in the racial and ethnic minority cohort vs. 4,848 in the non-minority cohort. A propensity score (PS) model was generated to account for differences in baseline characteristics between these cohorts to generate 1,500 matched pairs. The adjusted hazard ratio for in-hospital mortality for minority patients was 2.21 [95% Confidence Interval (CI) 1.43-3.41, p < 0.001] using injury type, probability of survival, and operative status as covariates. Overall, this study is the first to specifically look at racial and ethnic disparities in the field of neurosurgical trauma. This research has demonstrated significant inequities in the mortality of TBI patients based on race and ethnicity and indicates a substantive need to reshape the current healthcare system and advocate for safer and more supportive pre-hospital social systems to prevent these life-threatening sequelae.

Confronting Racism in Environmental Health Sciences: Moving the Science Forward for Eliminating Racial Inequities

BACKGROUND

The twin pandemics of COVID-19 and systemic racism during 2020 have forced a conversation across many segments of our society, including the environmental health sciences (EHS) research community. We have seen the proliferation of statements of solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement and commitments to fight racism and health inequities from academia, nonprofit organizations, governmental agencies, and private corporations. Actions must now arise from these promises. As public health and EHS scientists, we must examine the systems that produce and perpetuate inequities in exposure to environmental pollutants and associated health effects.

OBJECTIVES

We outline five recommendations the EHS research community can implement to confront racism and move our science forward for eliminating racial inequities in environmental health.

DISCUSSION

Race is best considered a political label that promotes inequality. Thus, we should be wary of equating race with biology. Further, EHS researchers should seriously consider racism as a plausible explanation of racial disparities in health and consider structural racism as a factor in environmental health risk/impact assessments, as well as multiple explanations for racial differences in environmental exposures and health outcomes. Last, the EHS research community should develop metrics to measure racism and a set of guidelines on the use and interpretation of race and ethnicity within the environmental sciences. Numerous guidelines exist in other disciplines that can serve as models. By taking action on each of these recommendations, we can make significant progress toward eliminating racial disparities. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP8186.

Exploring people's thoughts about the causes of ethnic stereotypes

Much research has shown that people tend to view genes in rather deterministic ways—often termed genetic essentialism. We explored how people would view the causes of ethnic stereotypes in contexts where human genetic variability was either emphasized or downplayed. In two studies with over 1600 participants we found that people viewed ethnic stereotypes to be more of a function of underlying genetics after they read an article describing how ancestry can be estimated by geographic distributions of gene frequencies than after reading an article describing how relatively homogeneous the human genome was or after reading a control essay. Moreover, people were more likely to attribute ethnic stereotypes to genes when they scored higher on a measure of genetic essentialism or when they had less knowledge about genes. Our understanding of stereotypes is a function of our understanding of genetics.

Ethical issues in global neuroimaging genetics collaborations

Neuroimaging genetics is a rapidly developing field that combines neuropsychiatric genetics studies with imaging modalities to investigate how genetic variation influences brain structure and function. As both genetic and imaging technologies improve further, their combined power may hold translational potential in terms of improving psychiatric nosology, diagnosis, and treatment. While neuroimaging genetics studies offer a number of scientific advantages, they also face challenges. In response to some of these challenges, global neuroimaging genetics collaborations have been created to pool and compare brain data and replicate study findings. Attention has been paid to ethical issues in genetics, neuroimaging, and multi-site collaborative research, respectively, but there have been few substantive discussions of the ethical issues generated by the confluence of these areas in global neuroimaging genetics collaborations. Our discussion focuses on two areas: benefits and risks of global neuroimaging genetics collaborations and the potential impact of neuroimaging genetics research findings in low- and middle-income countries. Global neuroimaging genetics collaborations have the potential to enhance relations between countries and address global mental health challenges, however there are risks regarding inequity, exploitation and data sharing. Moreover, neuroimaging genetics research in low- and middle-income countries must address the issue of feedback of findings and the risk of essentializing and stigmatizing interpretations of mental disorders. We conclude by examining how the notion of solidarity, informed by an African Ethics framework, may justify some of the suggestions made in our discussion.

Importance of Genetic Studies of Cardiometabolic Disease in Diverse Populations

Genome-wide association studies have revolutionized our understanding of the genetic underpinnings of cardiometabolic disease. Yet, the inadequate representation of individuals of diverse ancestral backgrounds in these studies may undercut their ultimate potential for both public health and precision medicine. The goal of this review is to describe the imperativeness of studying the populations who are most affected by cardiometabolic disease, to the aim of better understanding the genetic underpinnings of the disease. We support this premise by describing the current variation in the global burden of cardiometabolic disease and emphasize the importance of building a globally and ancestrally representative genetics evidence base for the identification of population-specific variants, fine-mapping, and polygenic risk score estimation. We discuss the important ethical, legal, and social implications of increasing ancestral diversity in genetic studies of cardiometabolic disease and the challenges that arise from the (1) lack of diversity in current reference populations and available analytic samples and the (2) unequal generation of health-associated genomic data and their prediction accuracies. Despite these challenges, we conclude that additional, unprecedented opportunities lie ahead for public health genomics and the realization of precision medicine, provided that the gap in diversity can be systematically addressed. Achieving this goal will require concerted efforts by social, academic, professional and regulatory stakeholders and communities, and these efforts must be based on principles of equity and social justice.

Women's beliefs about what causes obesity: variation by race/ethnicity and acculturation in a Washington State sample

Objective: Individuals' beliefs about the causes of multifactorial health conditions (causal attributions) shape how they conceptualize and respond to health threats and are therefore important for health promotion. Studies of racial/ethnic and cultural variation in obesity causal beliefs, however, are scarce. To address this gap, this study described beliefs about the underlying causes of obesity (genetic inheritance, diet, and physical activity) in Hispanic and non-Hispanic White women participating in a longitudinal cohort study in South King County, Washington State (n = 1,002).Design: Analysis of baseline survey data. Self-reported obesity causal beliefs were compared by race/ethnicity and acculturation indicators (survey language and nativity) using marginal effect estimates generated from multinomial logistic regression models.Results: Hispanic women had a higher probability of not believing 'at all' in inheritance and physical activity as causes of obesity - an absolute increase of 33% and 5% over non-Hispanic White women, respectively. Both acculturation indicators were also associated with a higher probability of not believing 'at all' in inheritance as a cause of obesity, though Hispanic women who completed the survey in English and were born in the United States had genetic causal beliefs similar to non-Hispanic White women. Behavioral attributions did not vary by acculturation indicators in Hispanic women.Conclusions: Differences in obesity casual beliefs, particularly genetic attributions, exist and may be important for developing and delivering effective obesity-related health promotion interventions. Identifying the determinants and public health consequences of cultural variation in obesity attributions should be the focus of future research.

Do genetic ancestry tests increase racial essentialism? Findings from a randomized controlled trial

Genetic ancestry testing is a billion-dollar industry, with more than 26 million tests sold by 2018, which raises concerns over how it might influence test-takers' understandings of race. While social scientists argue that genetic ancestry tests may promote an essentialist view of race as fixed and determining innate abilities, others suggest it could reduce essentialist views by reinforcing a view of race as socially constructed. Essentialist views are a concern because of their association with racism, particularly in its most extreme forms. Here we report the first randomized controlled trial of genetic ancestry testing conducted to examine potential causal relationships between taking the tests and essentialist views of race. Native-born White Americans were randomly assigned to receive Admixture and mtDNA tests or no tests. While we find no significant average effect of genetic ancestry testing on essentialism, secondary analyses reveal that the impact of these tests on racial essentialism varies by type of genetic knowledge. Within the treatment arm, essentialist beliefs significantly declined after testing among individuals with high genetic knowledge, but increased among those with the least genetic knowledge. Additional secondary analysis show that essentialist beliefs do not change based on the specific ancestries reported in test-takers' results. These results indicate that individuals' interpretations of genetic ancestry testing results, and the links between genes and race, may depend on their understanding of genetics.

The ethics of global psychiatric genomics: Multilayered challenges to integrating genomics in global mental health and disability-A position paper of the Oxford Global Initiative in Neuropsychiatric GenEthics (NeuroGenE)

Psychiatric genomics has the potential to radically improve the prevention and early intervention of serious mental and neurodevelopmental disorders worldwide. However, little work has been done on the ethics of psychiatric genomics-an oversight that could result in poor local uptake, reduced practical/clinical application, and ethical violations in this rapidly developing area of scientific research. As part of the Global Project of the Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, the Global Initiative in Neuropsychiatric GenEthics (NeuroGenE) based at the University of Oxford aims to embed ethical inquiry within scientific investigation and engage with fundamental ethical questions around a psychiatric genomics approach to mental and neurodevelopmental disorder. This position paper sets out the core aims of the NeuroGenE research programme and explores the importance of a crosscutting research orientation in this field based on multidisciplinary methodologies which can ensure that efforts to translate and apply global psychiatric genomics in public policy and clinical practice are ethically grounded strategies, respectful of different cultures and contexts.

Essential(ist) medicine: promoting social explanations for racial variation in biomedical research

Biomedical research has a long and complicated history as a tool of oppression, exemplary of the racial science used to legitimise and maintain racial hierarchies in the USA and abroad. While the explicit racism and racial inferiority supported by this research has dissipated and modern methods of inquiry have increased in sophistication and rigor, contemporary biomedical research continues to essentialise race by distilling racial differences and disparities in health to an underlying, biogenetic source. Focusing on the persistence of essentialism in an era of genomic medicine, this paper examines the deep social origins and social implications of the essentialist viewpoint in biomedicine and how it relates to the broader construction of social and scientific knowledge. Invoking Hacking's 'looping effects' as a useful conceptual tool, I then demonstrate how sociohistorical forces influence scientific and medical research in producing evidence that favours and legitimises a biological construction of race. I extend the looping framework to consider a parallel 'louping' process whereby applying a socially rooted meaning to race in biomedical research results becomes magnified to influence social norms and ideas about race. As many biomedical researchers are motivated by a desire to eliminate racial disparities in outcomes, I argue that greater social acuity allows scientists to avoid individualising and racialising health, challenge preconceived assumptions about the meaning of racial variation in health and medicine and thus promote and strengthen a socioenvironmental focus on how to best improve individuals' and population health. Concluding with a call for structural competency in biomedical research, I suggest that empowering scientists to more freely discuss sociostructural factors in their work allows for the continued use of race in biological and medical research, while social scientists and medical humanities scholars stand to benefit from seeing their work imbued with the cultural authority currently granted to biomedicine.

Sociogenomics in the 21st Century: An Introduction to the History and Potential of Genetically-informed Social Science

This article reviews research at the intersection of genetics and sociology and provides an introduction to the current data, methods, and theories used in sociogenomic research. To accomplish this, I review behavioral genetics models, candidate gene analysis, genome-wide complex trait analysis, and the use of polygenic scores (sometimes referred to as polygenic risk scores) in the study of complex human behaviors and traits. The information provided is meant to equip readers with the necessary tools to: (1) understand the methodology employed by each type of analysis, (2) intelligently interpret findings from sociogenomic research, and (3) understand the importance of sociologists in the ever-growing field of sociogenomics. To unify these three tasks, I rely on various examples from recent sociogenomic analyses of educational attainment focusing on social stratification and inequality.

The social life of DNA: racial reconciliation and institutional morality after the genome

This 2017 British Journal of Sociology Lecture builds upon ideas developed in The Social Life of DNA: Race, Reparations, and Reconciliation after the Genome (Nelson 2016). I argue that one of the more significant developments of the postgenomic era is the circulation of DNA analysis outside of the life sciences, especially commercial applications such as direct-to-consumer genealogical testing. These tests are increasingly taken up in 'reconciliation projects' - endeavours in which DNA analysis is put to the use of repairing the past, including a recently launched attempt in the United States to locate descendants of enslaved persons sold by the Jesuit stewards of Georgetown College in order to bolster that institution's finances. With this reconciliation project, genetic genealogy has become a vehicle for a form of social repair, and most particularly, the reuniting of 'lost' kin. This use of genetic genealogy takes place against the backdrop of an expanding, national inquiry into ties between education and slavery. In the process, the legacy of racial slavery is rendered both contemporary and proximate, despite a 'colour-blind' racial project that aims to negate the significance of this history and its coeval development with US higher education. Elite educational institutions such as Georgetown that elect to excavate these histories are soon after faced with the choice of how to respond, on campus and beyond, to revelations of entanglements between edification and bondage. However imperfectly, colleges and universities are among the few institutional settings where the contested issue of structural racism (and remedies to it) may be aired. It is in these fraught debates that the exercise of 'institutional morality' can take shape; organizations engage in practices that articulate institutional values and are faced with a choice of symbolic and distributional responses.

Understanding the potential of state-based public health genomics programs to mitigate disparities in access to clinical genetic services

Purpose

State Health Agencies (SHAs) have developed public health genomics (PHG) programs that play an instrumental role in advancing precision public health, but there is limited research on their approaches. This study examines how PHG programs attempt to mitigate or forestall health disparities and inequities in the utilization of genomic medicine.

Methods

We compared PHG programs in three states: Connecticut, Michigan, and Utah. We analyzed 85 in-depth interviews with SHA internal and external collaborators and program documents. We employed a qualitative coding process to capture themes relating to health disparities and inequities.

Results

Each SHA implemented population-level approaches to identify individuals who carry genetic variants that increase risk of hereditary cancers. However, each SHA developed a unique strategy—which we label public health action repertoires—to reach specific subgroups who faced barriers in accessing genetic services. These strategies varied across states given demographics of the state population, state-level partnerships, and availability of healthcare services.

Conclusion

Our findings illustrate the imperative of tailoring PHG programs to local demographic characteristics and existing community resources. Furthermore, our study highlights how integrating genomics into precision public health will require multilevel, multisector collaboration to optimize efficacy and equity.

Review: Genetic research on alcohol use outcomes in African American populations: A review of the literature, associated challenges, and implications

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES

There have been remarkable advances in understanding genetic influences on complex traits; however, individuals of African descent have been underrepresented in genetic research.

METHODS

We review the limitations of existing genetic research on alcohol phenotypes in African Americans (AA) including both twin and gene identification studies, possible reasons for underrepresentation of AAs in genetic research, the implications of the lack of racially diverse samples, and special considerations regarding conducting genetic research in AA populations.

RESULTS

There is a marked absence of large-scale AA twin studies so little is known about the genetic epidemiology of alcohol use and problems among AAs. Individuals of African descent have also been underrepresented in gene identification efforts; however, there have been recent efforts to enhance representation. It remains unknown the extent to which genetic variants associated with alcohol use outcomes in individuals of European and African descent will be shared. Efforts to increase representation must be accompanied by careful attention to the ethical, legal, and social implications of genetic research. This is particularly true for AAs due to the history of abuse by the biomedical community and the persistent racial discrimination targeting this population.

CONCLUSIONS AND SCIENTIFIC SIGNIFICANCE

Lack of representation in genetic studies limits our understanding of the etiological factors that contribute to substance use and psychiatric outcomes in populations of African descent and has the potential to further perpetuate health disparities. Involving individuals of diverse ancestry in discussions about genetic research will be critical to ensure that all populations benefit equally from genetic advances. (Am J Addict 2017;26:486-493).

Geneticizing Ethnicity and Diet: Anti-doping Science and Its Social Impact in the Age of Post-genomics

While gene doping and other technological means of sport enhancement have become a topic of ethical debate, a major outcome from genomic research in sports is often linked to the regulation of doping. In particular, researchers within the field of anti-doping science, a regulatory science that aims to develop scientific solutions for regulating doped athletes, have conducted genomic research on anabolic-androgenic steroids. Genomic knowledge on anabolic-androgenic steroids, a knowledge base that has been produced to improve doping regulation, has caused the ‘geneticization’ of cultural objects such as ethnic identities and dietary habits. Through examining how anti-doping genomic knowledge and its media representation unnecessarily reify cultural objects in terms of genomics, I argue that Ethical, Legal, and Social Implications (ELSI) research programs in human enhancement should include the social impacts of anti-doping science in their discussions. Furthermore, this article will propose that ELSI scholars begin their academic analysis on anti-doping science by engaging with the recent ELSI scholarship on genomics and race and consider the regulatory and political natures of anti-doping research.

Changing attitudes towards obesity - results from a survey experiment

Background

This experimental study in a population-based sample aimed to compare attitudes towards obesity following three different causal explanations for obesity (individual behavior, environmental factors, genetic factors).

Methods

The data were derived from an online representative sample. A random subsample of n = 407 participants was included. Two independent variables were investigated: cause of obesity as described in the vignette and cause of obesity as perceived by the participant regardless of vignette. Quality features of the vignettes (accuracy and bias of the vignette) were introduced as moderators to regression models. Three stigma-related outcomes (negative attitudes, blame and social distance) served as dependent variables.

Results

Inaccuracy and bias was ascribed to the social environmental and genetic vignettes more often than to the individual cause vignette. Overall, participants preferred individual causes (72.6%). While personal beliefs did not differ between the genetic and environmental cause conditions (Chi² = 4.36, p = 0.113), both were different from the distribution seen in the individual cause vignette. Negative attitudes as well as blame were associated with the belief that individuals are responsible for obesity (b = 0.374, p = 0.003; 0.597, p < 0.001), but were not associated with vignette-manipulated causal explanation. The vignette presenting individual responsibility was associated with lower levels of social distance (b = −0.183, p = 0.043). After including perceived inaccuracy and bias as moderators, the individual responsibility vignette was associated with higher levels of blame (emphasis: b = 0.980, p = 0.010; bias: b = 0.778, p = 0.001) and the effect on social distance vanished.

Conclusions

This study shows that media and public health campaigns may solidify beliefs that obesity is due to individual causes and consequently increase stigma when presenting individual behavior as a cause of obesity. Public health messages that emphasize the role of social environmental or genetic causes may be ineffective because of entrenched beliefs.

The influence of science popularizers on the public's view of religion and science: An experimental assessment

Research suggests that public figures can play an influential role in forming public opinion; yet, little research has experimentally tested the efficacy of public figures on the cognitive formation of boundaries. Using an experiment embedded within a nationally representative survey, we examine how two science popularizers, Francis Collins and Richard Dawkins, influence perceptions regarding the boundaries between religion and science. We find that learning of Dawkins does not influence people's perceptions of the religion-science relationship, while learning of Collins shifts respondents toward a collaborative view of religion and science. Findings suggest that figures with unexpected views might be more effective in changing conceptual boundaries.

Between (Racial) Groups and a Hard Place: An Exploration of Social Science Approaches to Race and Genetics, 2000-2014

As the social sciences expand their involvement in genetic and genomic research, more information is needed to understand how theoretical concepts are applied to genetic data found in social surveys. Given the layers of complexity of studying race in relation to genetics and genomics, it is important to identify the varying approaches used to discuss and operationalize race and identity by social scientists. The present study explores how social scientists have used race, ethnicity, and ancestry in studies published in four social science journals from 2000 to 2014. We identify not only how race, ethnicity, and ancestry are classified and conceptualized in this growing area of research, but also how these concepts are incorporated into the methodology and presentation of results, all of which structure the discussion of race, identity, and inequality. This research indicates the slippage between concepts, classifications, and their use by social scientists in their genetics-related research. The current study can assist social scientists with clarifying their use and interpretations of race and ethnicity with the incorporation of genetic data, while limiting possible misinterpretations of the complexities of the connection between genetics and the social world.

Incarcerated Black Women in the Southern USA: A Narrative Review of STI and HIV Risk and Implications for Future Public Health Research, Practice, and Policy

Incarcerated black women in the southern USA are understudied despite the high prevalence of sexually transmitted infections (STI) and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). These incarceration and health disparities are rooted in centuries of historically inequitable treatment. Amidst the current dialogue on mass incarceration in the south and its relationship to the health of the black community, individual and environmental risk factors for STI/HIV transmission are seldom paired with discussions of evidence-based solutions. A narrative review of the literature from January 1995 to May 2015 was conducted. This sample of the literature (n = 18) revealed that partner concurrency, inconsistent condom use, sex work, previous STI, and drug abuse augmented individual STI/HIV risk. Recommended interventions include those which promote healthier relationships, cultural competence, and gender specificity, as well as those that enhance prevention skills. Policy recommendations include improving cultural sensitivity, cultural competence, and cultural humility training for clinicians, as well as substantially increasing funding for prevention, treatment, and rehabilitative services. These recommendations are timely given the recent national attention to incarceration, STI, and HIV disparities, particularly in the southern USA.

Putting humanity back into the teaching of human biology

In this paper, I draw upon debates about race in biology and philosophy as well as the concepts of ineliminable pluralism and psychological essentialism to outline the necessary subject matter knowledge that teachers should possess if they desire to: (i) increase student understanding of scientific research on genetic and behavioral variation in humans; and (ii) attenuate inegalitarian beliefs about race amongst students.

Direct-to-Consumer Racial Admixture Tests and Beliefs About Essential Racial Differences

Although at first relatively disinterested in race, modern genomic research has increasingly turned attention to racial variations. We examine a prominent example of this focus-direct-to-consumer racial admixture tests-and ask how information about the methods and results of these tests in news media may affect beliefs in racial differences. The reification hypothesis proposes that by emphasizing a genetic basis for race, thereby reifying race as a biological reality, the tests increase beliefs that whites and blacks are essentially different. The challenge hypothesis suggests that by describing differences between racial groups as continua rather than sharp demarcations, the results produced by admixture tests break down racial categories and reduce beliefs in racial differences. A nationally representative survey experiment (N = 526) provided clear support for the reification hypothesis. The results suggest that an unintended consequence of the genomic revolution may be to reinvigorate age-old beliefs in essential racial differences.