Human Genome Research Advances Without Discussion of "Race"

Today, by reading scientific results of studies instead of sociological commentary, I have learned something about African people that I didn't know before: Africans are more diverse genetically than people anywhere else in the world, finds a study that "was funded by the National Cancer Institute, the National Institutes of Health, the Advanced Computing Center for Research and Education at Vanderbilt University, the L.S.B. Leakey and Wenner Gren Foundation, the National Science Foundation, the David and Lucile Packard and Burroughs Wellcome foundations", reported in Yahoo News:

WASHINGTON – Africans have more genetic variation than anyone else on Earth, according to a new study that helps narrow the location where humans first evolved, probably near the South Africa-Namibia border.

The largest study of African genetics ever undertaken also found that nearly three-fourths of African-Americans can trace their ancestry to West Africa. The new analysis published Thursday in the online edition of the journal Science.

"Given the fact that modern humans arose in Africa, they have had time to accumulate dramatic changes" in their genes, explained lead researcher Sarah Tishkoff, a geneticist at the University of Pennsylvania.  

Yahoo News

Read the whole article. It's fascinating to read about legitimate scientific reasons to study the human genome (e.g. develop more effective medications), and this article includes 620 words about the enormous genetic diversity of people from Africa, without ever using the anachronistic white supremacy fantasy concept, "race".   How refreshing!

The reason for their work? Very little was known about the genetic variation in Africans, knowledge that is vital to understanding why diseases have a greater impact in some groups than others and in designing ways to counter those illnesses. 

( . . . )

This study "provides a critical piece in the puzzle," he said. For example, there are clear differences in prevalence of diseases such as hypertension and prostate cancer across populations, Williams said.

"The human genome [NOT RACE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!] describes the complexity of our species," added Muntaser Ibrahim of the department ofmolecular biology at the University of Khartoum, Sudan. "Now we have spectacular insight into the history of the African population ... the oldest history of mankind.

"Everybody's history is part of African history because everybody came out of Africa," Ibrahim said.  Yahoo News (Screaming added.)  

How many of us can say that we have written six hundred and twenty words about Africans and their genetic makeup without every once using the disgraced word, "race"?  Very few of us, I would be willing to bet.  And yet Yahoo News was able to do so today, because science does not admit the fantasy concept of "race", and discussions of "race" are inherently unscientific.

So, let's all congratulate and follow the example of the scientists who actually study the human genome -- people who have learned that once you start actually studying populations scientifically, the word "race" is not only superfluous and unnecessary, but harmful to clear scientific understanding.