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“The Presence of Race in Genetics: At-Home Ancestry Testing, Forensics, and The Accuracy Problem” 

G Guidero

By Gabi G To reflect on all the research I’ve been doing in previous blog posts, I decided to write a literature review. I hope you find it interesting! I definitely did while writing it. Abstract Race, as a social construct, plays a shockingly large role in the scientific field of genetics. This review analyzes several studies to reach a more comprehensive understanding of the origins of race’s influence in genetics, the modern implications of this relationship, and the validity of race as a scientific category in the context of genetics. Beginning as a means to classify people, built on … Continue reading “The Presence of Race in Genetics: At-Home Ancestry Testing, Forensics, and The Accuracy Problem” 

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Race and Genetics in Forensics — The Creation Process

G Guidero

Duana Fulwilley explores race in genetics applied to the workforce, in her review, “The Contemporary Synthesis.” She brings the dangers of wrongly charging innocent suspects to a crime they did not commit due to faulty ancestry testing. In 2004, Mark Shriver, a physical anthropologist, population geneticist, and AIMs expert was working to market a product with a company called DNAPrint Genomics, to allow scientists to figure out an individual’s facial morphology based on their DNA. This project eventually became marketed by Parabon Snapshot in 2014, and continues to be marketed today. The idea, was Fulwilley puts it, was to create … Continue reading Race and Genetics in Forensics — The Creation Process

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Race and Genetics in the 21st Century

G Guidero

Let’s continue to race and genetics in the 21st century! Today, race plays a significant role in the genetic field — especially in at-home ancestry testing. In the book referenced last post, Race and the Genetic Revolution, Part III, written by Troy Duster, explores ancestry testing. 23andMe sells at ancestry self-test kit for $99 on their website today; thus heavily increasing accessibility to determining one’s ancestry. As expected, the social implications of race have also increased in effect now that science is “backing” racial groups. However, it’s important to recognize, as Duster writes, that the accuracy of these ancestry kits … Continue reading Race and Genetics in the 21st Century

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A Brief History of Race and Genetics

G Guidero

As a part of my continued interest in race and genetics, I started reading Race and the Genetic Revolution: Science, Myth, and Culture edited by Sheldon Krimsky and Kathleen Sloan. Part I starts with a history of race in genetics by Michael Yudell, where Yudell takes readers through the years from the eighteenth-century to the present. To summarize that history, Michael Yudell first begins with what race means: a way to classify people. He notes that race has been influenced by geography, politics, culture, science, and economics — and this applies to all of human history. For as long as … Continue reading A Brief History of Race and Genetics

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How COVID Vaccines are Made for Children

G Guidero

Now that COVID vaccinations have been approved for younger age groups, a common question is where children can get vaccinated and what the safety concerns of the vaccines are. I’m personally wondering about whether schools are requiring COVID vaccination for students today. Jeffrey Zients, the COVID-19 Response Coordinator for the White House, says that over 20,000 medical care providers (including pediatricians, family doctors, and pharmacies) are equipped to vaccinate young children against COVID-19. Depending on the facility, some may require an appointment and some may be open to walk-in vaccinations. Unfortunately, vaccines are not approved for children under the age … Continue reading How COVID Vaccines are Made for Children

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Reactions to Richard Spencer’s Alt-Right Speech

G Guidero

I watched a video made viewable by The Atlantic on Richard Spencer’s Alt-Right ideology (linked above, and also here), and my only reaction is shock. Truthfully, as a mixed racial, partly Asian, partly White young woman, Spencer’s words offended me. Richard Spencer is a white supremacist public speaker, American Neo-Nazi, who wants to reinstate the Roman Empire — with the idea that the recreation of Rome will provide white people with a safe space to embrace with heritage and bond together, as a tribe. He speaks as those white people are the victims of the global social change that has … Continue reading Reactions to Richard Spencer’s Alt-Right Speech