Race in biomedicine: Encyclopedia II - Race in biomedicine - Genetic labelling

Race in biomedicine - Genetic labelling

An alternative view argues that the underlying genetic-cluster categories can be used in lieu of racial labels for biomedical purposes. Proponents of this view argue that by directly examining the genotype, the problem of using racial labels can be avoided. Moreover, they argue that genotyping is more reliable than using self-identified race as a proxy for ancestry. Some fear that the use of racial labels in biomedical research runs the risk of unintentionally exasperating health disparities.

Proponents of using race in biomedical research argue that ignoring race will be detrimental to the health of minority groups. They argue that disease risk factors differ substantially between racial groups, that relying only on genotypical classes ignores non-genetic racial factors that impact health, and, furthermore, that minorities would be poorly represented in clinical trials if race were ignored.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Genetic labelling", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki