Race and its role medical research

Listen 00:48:45

Guests: Dorothy Roberts, Sarah Tishkoff, Michael Yudell

Classifying people by race is still common in medicine and genetics. But a recent article in Science argues that race doesn’t actually reflect our genes, and using racial categories is not only imprecise but also dangerous. The authors suggest researchers use other concepts like ancestry or ethnicity instead. This hour, we talk about the biological, cultural and social meanings of race and how the concept of race has been used and misused in the biological sciences. Marty talks with the authors of the article, “Taking race out of human genetics”: DOROTHY ROBERTS, professor of law and sociology at the University of Pennsylvania, SARAH TISHKOFF, professor in genetics and biology at the University of Pennsylvania, and MICHAEL YUDELL, associate professor and chair of community health and prevention at the Dornsife School of Public Health at Drexel University.

WHYY is your source for fact-based, in-depth journalism and information. As a nonprofit organization, we rely on financial support from readers like you. Please give today.

Want a digest of WHYY’s programs, events & stories? Sign up for our weekly newsletter.

Together we can reach 100% of WHYY’s fiscal year goal