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This is far from universally agreed on. >when examining the frequency of different alleles (variants of a particular gene) at an individual locus (the location

This is far from universally agreed on. >when examining the frequency of different alleles (variants of a particular gene) at an individual locus (the location of a particular gene) between individuals, it is nonetheless possible to classify individuals into different racial groups with an accuracy that approaches 100 percent when one takes into account the frequency of the alleles at several loci at the same time. This happens because differences in the frequency of alleles at different loci are correlated across populations — the alleles that are more frequent in a population at two or more loci are correlated when we consider the two populations simultaneously. Or in other words, the frequency of the alleles tends to cluster differently for different populations. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_Genetic_Diversity:_Lewontin%27s_Fallacy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_Genetic_Diversity:_Lewon... In other words people's genetics do naturally cluster into different groups.

stefantalpalaru 12y ago
The quantitative aspect is more important than the qualitative one. Take dog races (breeds) for example: "We also showed that the genetic variation between dog breeds is much greater than the variation within breeds. Between-breed variation is estimated at 27.5 percent. By comparison, genetic variation between human populations is only 5.4 percent. Thus the concept of a dog breed is very real and can be defined not only by the dog's appearance but genetically as well." - http://www.americanscientist.org/issues/feature/2007/5/genetics-and-the-shape-of-dogs/2 http://www.americanscientist.org/issues/feature/2007/5/genet...
- Houshalter 12y ago
  No one is disputing that dogs are far more genetically diverse than humans. But saying that humans don't cluster into different genetic groups is factually wrong.
  - stefantalpalaru 12y ago
    I'm saying that genetic clusters that flow gradually one into the other and have minimal differences between them are a distinct notion from race as we see it in other animals.

stefantalpalaru 12y ago

The quantitative aspect is more important than the qualitative one. Take dog races (breeds) for example: "We also showed that the genetic variation between dog breeds is much greater than the variation within breeds. Between-breed variation is estimated at 27.5 percent. By comparison, genetic variation between human populations is only 5.4 percent. Thus the concept of a dog breed is very real and can be defined not only by the dog's appearance but genetically as well." - http://www.americanscientist.org/issues/feature/2007/5/genetics-and-the-shape-of-dogs/2 http://www.americanscientist.org/issues/feature/2007/5/genet...

Houshalter 12y ago
No one is disputing that dogs are far more genetically diverse than humans. But saying that humans don't cluster into different genetic groups is factually wrong.
- stefantalpalaru 12y ago
  I'm saying that genetic clusters that flow gradually one into the other and have minimal differences between them are a distinct notion from race as we see it in other animals.