Race is not genetic.

TW: racism, systemic racism

What exactly is the relationship between race and genetics? And where do concepts of ancestry and identity enter the conversation? In the realm of genomics, these are myths waiting to be busted.

“What does the information stored in our genomes tell us about our past and our present?” Dr. Kaylee Byers and Co-host Dr. Shawn Hercules join forces to break into this fundamental question of science, ancestry and race.  First, they speak with “Genet-SIS” and Executive Producer of the podcast In Those Genes, Dr. Janina Jeff (A.K.A. “Dr.J²”) about how race is really a social construct. Together, they delve into the important distinctions we must make between ancestry and race in order to better understand our biology. 

Dr. Hercules discusses their research into advanced breast cancer in Caribbean and West African women and how it relates to hereditary genes. This opens the conversation up to how scientists need to be mindful when working with marginalized communities to extract genetic information. Finally, globe-trotting scientist and ancient DNA expert Dr. Eske Willerslev, shares stories of his intercultural journeys to understand human ancestry and migration around the world. Join us for this fascinating episode about race, ancestry, and genomics without borders.

Listen to Nice Genes! wherever you get your podcasts, brought to you by Genome British Columbia. 

Check out this episode's Learn-A-Long at the following link: https://bit.ly/3zgWKrS

Resources: 

1. Analysis of the genomic landscapes of Barbadian and Nigerian women with triple negative breast cancer, Dr. Shawn Hercules
2. In those Genes Podcast, Dr. Janina M. Jeff 
3. Eske Willerslev Is Rewriting History With DNA, The New York Times 
4. The Ancestry and affiliations of Kennewick Man, nature 
5. Racial bias in a medical algorithm favors white patients over sicker black patients, The Washington Post 
6. The promise and peril of the new science of social genomics, nature
7. How Science and Genetics are Reshaping the Race Debate of the 21st Century 
8. Sam Harris, Charles Murray, and the allure of race science 
9. Social Genomics and the Life Course: Opportunities and Challenges for Multilevel Population Research 
10. Race, Ethnicity, and Genomics: Social Classifications as Proxies of Biological Heterogeneity

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