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Race is a social construct, but one loosely based on biological reality. As we unravel the mystery of human origins using ancient DNA, we are starting to get a
by systemstops 1y ago
Race is a social construct, but one loosely based on biological reality. As we unravel the mystery of human origins using ancient DNA, we are starting to get a better understanding of the how different groups came to be.
The idea what we are a homogenous species with no biologically important distinctions between groups - which became popular in the postwar period - is coming to end. But, we are also not returning to racial essentialism of the past. The new narrative of human differences will be far more complicated.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41588-025-02117-1 https://www.nature.com/articles/s41588-025-02117-1
- pkkkzip 1y ago[flagged]
- deleted 1y ago[deleted]
- systemstops 1y agoIt's a social construct in the way that all categories are. The question is whether or not a category is useful. I'm saying there are genetic differences between groups, but our structuring of these groups is pretty flexible. There are genetic differences between "continental groups" but there is also a good amount of genetic diversity within sub-Saharan Africa populations because those people did not go through the genetic bottleneck that Eurasians did. Our understanding of race have been historically contingent. Both the racial essentialism of the colonial period and the "we are all the same under the skin" anti-racism of post-WW2 were based more on political ideologies than reality.
- nitwit005 1y agoIf you tell me you have a test that can distinguish a Japanese person from a Finn, I'd say sure. If you told me you had one that could distinguish a French person from a German, I'd laugh.
- Jensson 1y ago> If you told me you had one that could distinguish a French person from a German, I'd laugh. They are neighbors, so there is of course some overlap if you take some French village close to Germany and a German village close to France. But French native and Polish native, you can, which is why we can track genetic ancestry like this.
- nitwit005 1y agoPeople have been moving across Europe, and further, for thousands of years. There is nothing truly genetically unique to the populations. There is an average genetic difference across the populations, but nothing that will function at the level of individuals.
- anthk 1y agoNorthern Spaniard here; in the North you woudn't be able to distinguish an Asturian from a village from the average Irish (non-redhead, altough there are tons in Galicia and Asturias). Europe isn't like that; you will find Atlantic/Mediterranean mixes everywhere, and with any gamma inbetween.
- carabiner 1y agoRelated: A New DNA Test Can ID a Suspect's Race, But Police Won't Touch It > Tony Clayton, a black man and a prosecutor who tried one of the Baton Rouge murder cases, concedes the benefits of the test: "Had it not been for Frudakis, we would still be looking for the white guy in the white pickup." Nevertheless, Clayton says he dislikes anything that implies we don't all "bleed the same blood." He adds, "If I could push a button and make this technology disappear, I would." https://www.wired.com/2007/12/ps-dna/ https://www.wired.com/2007/12/ps-dna/
- genewitch 1y agoHe could push a bunch of buttons and draft legislation to prevent it from being used in Louisiana. I'm sure they'll use it whenever possible, regardless of his quote.