Science for the People: Troublesome Inheritance

sftpThis week, Science for the People is looking at the intersection of race, history and genetics in science writer Nicholas Wade’s 2014 book A Troublesome Inheritance: Genes, Race and Human History. DNA researcher Jennifer Raff and science journalist David Dobbs share their critiques of the claim that differences between genetically distinct “races” are responsible for global divergence in cultural and political structures. Blogger Scicurious walks us through the (delicious) basics of the scientific method with Cookie Science.

*Josh provides research help to Science for the People and is, therefore, completely biased.


Filed under: Curiosities of Nature, Follies of the Human Condition Tagged: A Troublesome Inheritance, Bethany Brookshire, cookie science, cookies, David Dobbs, dna, food, Genetics, Jennifer Raff, Nicholas Wade, Podcast, race, racism, scicurious, science for the people

“…there is no support from the field of population genetics for Wade’s conjectures.”

If you are a regular patron of The Finch & Pea, you know that Nicholas Wade’s controversial book, A Troublesome Inheritance (link is to David Dobbs’ unflattering review), is a work of pseudoscience that purports to draw on the fields of human and population genetics to support a panoply of racist stereotypes. Now, a lengthy list of leaders in these fields, tired of their work being misappropriated, have signed a letter asserting:

We are in full agreement that there is no support from the field of population genetics for Wade’s conjectures. – Graham Coop, Michael Eisen, Rasmus Nielsen, Molly Przeworski & Noah Rosenberg (+134 signatories)

As Mary Carmichael notes, this is probably the first time these 139 scientists have ever agreed on anything.

*Hat tip to Daniel MacArthur.


Filed under: Curiosities of Nature, Follies of the Human Condition Tagged: A Troublesome Inheritance, David Dobbs, Genetics, human genetics, Mary Carmichael, Nicholas Wade, population genetics, race, racism

Female vs. male research, vaginas, elderly sperm, Nate Silver’s 538, MERS, racial genetics

Sex roundup: Affirmative action in animal research

My list of potential topics is heavy with sex this week. First–and possibly most far-reaching–the National Institutes of Health is coming to grips with the fact that males and females are . . …

The post Female vs. male research, vaginas, elderly sperm, Nate Silver’s 538, MERS, racial genetics appeared first on PLOS Blogs Network.