Anthropologists' views on race, ancestry, and genetics

The Trotter collection: A review of Mildred Trotter's hair research and an update for studies of human variation

OBJECTIVES

Mildred Trotter was an anatomist and physical anthropologist whose studies on hair morphology, growth, somatic distribution, and trait relationships to age and ethnogeographic population were foundational to the field of microscopical hair analysis. The collection of human hair samples she assembled for her research has been an underutilized resource for studies on human hair variation. We applied updated methods and reviewed Trotter's original data to reassess the relationship hair traits have to diverse population labels.

METHODS

Hair form and pigmentation patterns were measured from a subset of the hair samples accumulated by Trotter and we compared our data to Trotter's original results. Variability in hair traits were tested within individuals, within populations, and among ethnogeographic groups.

RESULTS

Measured hair cross-section dimensions and melanosome density and distribution revealed substantial variability within individuals and ethnogeographic populations. Hair traits were found to not be distinctly separable by ancestry but instead showed continuous variation across human populations. Trotter's measurements were precise and the dataset she compiled remains valid, though the conclusions should be reviewed in light of our current understanding of human variation.

DISCUSSION

Our findings support moving away from categorical ancestry classifications and eliminating the use of outdated racial typologies in favor of more descriptive trait analysis. Detailed analysis of trait pattern distributions are presented that may be useful for future research on human variation. We point to the need for additional research on human variation and hair trait relationships with reference to known population affinity.

Improving genetic risk modeling of dementia from real-world data in underrepresented populations

BACKGROUND

Genetic risk modeling for dementia offers significant benefits, but studies based on real-world data, particularly for underrepresented populations, are limited.

METHODS

We employed an Elastic Net model for dementia risk prediction using single-nucleotide polymorphisms prioritized by functional genomic data from multiple neurodegenerative disease genome-wide association studies. We compared this model with APOE and polygenic risk score models across genetic ancestry groups, using electronic health records from UCLA Health for discovery and All of Us cohort for validation.

RESULTS

Our model significantly outperforms other models across multiple ancestries, improving the area-under-precision-recall curve by 21-61% and the area-under-the-receiver-operating characteristic by 10-21% compared to the APOEand the polygenic risk score models. We identified shared and ancestry-specific risk genes and biological pathways, reinforcing and adding to existing knowledge.

CONCLUSIONS

Our study highlights benefits of integrating functional mapping, multiple neurodegenerative diseases, and machine learning for genetic risk models in diverse populations. Our findings hold potential for refining precision medicine strategies in dementia diagnosis.

Improving genetic risk modeling of dementia from real-world data in underrepresented populations

BACKGROUND

Genetic risk modeling for dementia offers significant benefits, but studies based on real-world data, particularly for underrepresented populations, are limited.

METHODS

We employed an Elastic Net model for dementia risk prediction using single-nucleotide polymorphisms prioritized by functional genomic data from multiple neurodegenerative disease genome-wide association studies. We compared this model with APOE and polygenic risk score models across genetic ancestry groups, using electronic health records from UCLA Health for discovery and All of Us cohort for validation.

RESULTS

Our model significantly outperforms other models across multiple ancestries, improving the area-under-precision-recall curve by 21-61% and the area-under-the-receiver-operating characteristic by 10-21% compared to the APOE and the polygenic risk score models. We identified shared and ancestry-specific risk genes and biological pathways, reinforcing and adding to existing knowledge.

CONCLUSIONS

Our study highlights benefits of integrating functional mapping, multiple neurodegenerative diseases, and machine learning for genetic risk models in diverse populations. Our findings hold potential for refining precision medicine strategies in dementia diagnosis.

Multi-class Modeling Identifies Shared Genetic Risk for Late-onset Epilepsy and Alzheimer's Disease

Background

Previous studies have established a strong link between late-onset epilepsy (LOE) and Alzheimer's disease (AD). However, their shared genetic risk beyond the APOE gene remains unclear. Our study sought to examine the shared genetic factors of AD and LOE, interpret the biological pathways involved, and evaluate how AD onset may be mediated by LOE and shared genetic risks.

Methods

We defined phenotypes using phecodes mapped from diagnosis codes, with patients' records aged 60-90. A two-step Least Absolute Shrinkage and Selection Operator (LASSO) workflow was used to identify shared genetic variants based on prior AD GWAS integrated with functional genomic data. We calculated an AD-LOE shared risk score and used it as a proxy in a causal mediation analysis. We used electronic health records from an academic health center (UCLA Health) for discovery analyses and validated our findings in a multi-institutional EHR database (All of Us).

Results

The two-step LASSO method identified 34 shared genetic loci between AD and LOE, including the APOE region. These loci were mapped to 65 genes, which showed enrichment in molecular functions and pathways such as tau protein binding and lipoprotein metabolism. Individuals with high predicted shared risk scores have a higher risk of developing AD, LOE, or both in their later life compared to those with low-risk scores. LOE partially mediates the effect of AD-LOE shared genetic risk on AD (15% proportion mediated on average). Validation results from All of Us were consistent with findings from the UCLA sample.

Conclusions

We employed a machine learning approach to identify shared genetic risks of AD and LOE. In addition to providing substantial evidence for the significant contribution of the APOE-TOMM40-APOC1 gene cluster to shared risk, we uncovered novel genes that may contribute. Our study is one of the first to utilize All of Us genetic data to investigate AD, and provides valuable insights into the potential common and disease-specific mechanisms underlying AD and LOE, which could have profound implications for the future of disease prevention and the development of targeted treatment strategies to combat the co-occurrence of these two diseases.

The genetic legacy of African Americans from Catoctin Furnace

Few African Americans have been able to trace family lineages back to ancestors who died before the 1870 United States Census, the first in which all Black people were listed by name. We analyzed 27 individuals from Maryland's Catoctin Furnace African American Cemetery (1774-1850), identifying 41,799 genetic relatives among consenting research participants in 23andMe, Inc.'s genetic database. One of the highest concentrations of close relatives is in Maryland, suggesting that descendants of the Catoctin individuals remain in the area. We find that many of the Catoctin individuals derived African ancestry from the Wolof or Kongo groups and European ancestry from Great Britain and Ireland. This study demonstrates the power of joint analysis of historical DNA and large datasets generated through direct-to-consumer ancestry testing.

2022 Update on Prostate Cancer Epidemiology and Risk Factors-A Systematic Review

CONTEXT

Prostate cancer (PCa) is one of the most common cancers worldwide. Understanding the epidemiology and risk factors of the disease is paramount to improve primary and secondary prevention strategies.

OBJECTIVE

To systematically review and summarize the current evidence on the descriptive epidemiology, large screening studies, diagnostic techniques, and risk factors of PCa.

EVIDENCE ACQUISITION

PCa incidence and mortality rates for 2020 were obtained from the GLOBOCAN database of the International Agency for Research on Cancer. A systematic search was performed in July 2022 using PubMed/MEDLINE and EMBASE biomedical databases. The review was conducted in accordance with the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analyses guidelines and was registered in PROSPERO (CRD42022359728).

EVIDENCE SYNTHESIS

Globally, PCa is the second most common cancer, with the highest incidence in North and South America, Europe, Australia, and the Caribbean. Risk factors include age, family history, and genetic predisposition. Additional factors may include smoking, diet, physical activity, specific medications, and occupational factors. As PCa screening has become more accepted, newer approaches such as magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and biomarkers have been implemented to identify patients who are likely to harbor significant tumors. Limitations of this review include the evidence being derived from meta-analyses of mostly retrospective studies.

CONCLUSIONS

PCa remains the second most common cancer among men worldwide. PCa screening is gaining acceptance and will likely reduce PCa mortality at the cost of overdiagnosis and overtreatment. Increasing use of MRI and biomarkers for the detection of PCa may mitigate some of the negative consequences of screening.

PATIENT SUMMARY

Prostate cancer (PCa) remains the second most common cancer among men, and screening for PCa is likely to increase in the future. Improved diagnostic techniques can help reduce the number of men who need to be diagnosed and treated to save one life. Avoidable risk factors for PCa may include factors such as smoking, diet, physical activity, specific medications, and certain occupations.

Ancestry: How researchers use it and what they mean by it

Background: Ancestry is often viewed as a more objective and less objectionable population descriptor than race or ethnicity. Perhaps reflecting this, usage of the term "ancestry" is rapidly growing in genetics research, with ancestry groups referenced in many situations. The appropriate usage of population descriptors in genetics research is an ongoing source of debate. Sound normative guidance should rest on an empirical understanding of current usage; in the case of ancestry, questions about how researchers use the concept, and what they mean by it, remain unanswered. Methods: Systematic literature analysis of 205 articles at least tangentially related to human health from diverse disciplines that use the concept of ancestry, and semi-structured interviews with 44 lead authors of some of those articles. Results: Ancestry is relied on to structure research questions and key methodological approaches. Yet researchers struggle to define it, and/or offer diverse definitions. For some ancestry is a genetic concept, but for many-including geneticists-ancestry is only tangentially related to genetics. For some interviewees, ancestry is explicitly equated to ethnicity; for others it is explicitly distanced from it. Ancestry is operationalized using multiple data types (including genetic variation and self-reported identities), though for a large fraction of articles (26%) it is impossible to tell which data types were used. Across the literature and interviews there is no consistent understanding of how ancestry relates to genetic concepts (including genetic ancestry and population structure), nor how these genetic concepts relate to each other. Beyond this conceptual confusion, practices related to summarizing patterns of genetic variation often rest on uninterrogated conventions. Continental labels are by far the most common type of label applied to ancestry groups. We observed many instances of slippage between reference to ancestry groups and racial groups. Conclusion: Ancestry is in practice a highly ambiguous concept, and far from an objective counterpart to race or ethnicity. It is not uniquely a "biological" construct, and it does not represent a "safe haven" for researchers seeking to avoid evoking race or ethnicity in their work. Distinguishing genetic ancestry from ancestry more broadly will be a necessary part of providing conceptual clarity.

Science, Society, and Dismantling Racism

As a foundational pillar of the Truth, Racial Healing & Transformation framework, Narrative Change involves reckoning with our historical and current realities regarding "race" and racism, uprooting dominant narratives that normalize injustice and sustain oppression, and advancing narratives that promote equity and collective liberation. Narrative Change is vital to creating communal recognition and appreciation of the interconnectedness and equality of all humans and dismantling the ideology and structures of racial hierarchy. Telling new or more truthful and complete stories must include improving our understanding and messaging about what race is and what it is not as well as the relationship between race and racism. Ideas about the existence of biological human races have long been discredited by scientists and scholars in various fields. Yet, false beliefs about natural and fixed biological differences within the human species persist in some scientific studies, in aspects of health care, and in the political and legal architectures of the United States and other countries, thereby reproducing and maintaining social hierarchies. Efforts to eradicate racism and its pernicious effects are limited in their potential for sustained positive transformation unless simultaneous endeavors are undertaken to reframe people's thinking about the very concept of race. This brief provides an overview of the origins of racial hierarchy, distinguishes between biological concepts of race and socially defined race, reviews perspectives on the meanings and uses of race, and describes ongoing and potential efforts to address prevailing misunderstandings about race and racism.

The UCLA ATLAS Community Health Initiative: Promoting precision health research in a diverse biobank

The UCLA ATLAS Community Health Initiative (ATLAS) has an initial target to recruit 150,000 participants from across the UCLA Health system with the goal of creating a genomic database to accelerate precision medicine efforts in California. This initiative includes a biobank embedded within the UCLA Health system that comprises de-identified genomic data linked to electronic health records (EHRs). The first freeze of data from September 2020 contains 27,987 genotyped samples imputed to 7.9 million SNPs across the genome and is linked with de-identified versions of the EHRs from UCLA Health. Here, we describe a centralized repository of the genotype data and provide tools and pipelines to perform genome- and phenome-wide association studies across a wide range of EHR-derived phenotypes and genetic ancestry groups. We demonstrate the utility of this resource through the analysis of 7 well-studied traits and recapitulate many previous genetic and phenotypic associations.

Dismantling "Race" in Health Research

In this era of confronting racism in public space, it is critical to keep addressing the covert systemic racism in the healthcare system. We want to bring attention to the continued unscientific practice of race-based medicine and the absurdity of treating race as a biological indicator in the 21st century. We believe race is a social construct that does not qualify as a scientific biological indicator for predicting health outcomes. In this paper, we first present arguments for inappropriate use of race in health research and then discuss alternative explanations for health disparity findings that use race as a predictor. Our main concern centers on two specific aspects of the concept of "race": (1) its fundamental lack of scientific basis as a predictor for health outcomes, (2) the misguided narrative that the term creates, placing the onus of racial discrimination on the victim, instead of highlighting the act of discrimination and the role researchers play in actively reinforcing racism when using "race" as a variable. We conclude by proposing that "race" be replaced by the variable "racism" in health.

Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease in Women and Girls With Polycystic Ovary Syndrome

CONTEXT

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) describes a spectrum of liver damage due to excessive hepatic lipid accumulation. Recent research has demonstrated a high prevalence of NAFLD in women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS).

RESULTS

Strong associations independent of body mass index (BMI) have been found between high androgen levels characteristic of PCOS, as well as insulin resistance, and the presence of NAFLD in these women, suggesting that these factors contribute to liver injury more significantly than obesity. Current studies indicate the occurrence of NAFLD in normal weight women with PCOS in addition to the commonly researched women who are overweight and obese. While the majority of studies address NAFLD in adult, premenopausal women (ages 25-40 years), the occurrence of NAFLD in young and adolescent women has gone largely unaddressed. Research in this field lacks diversity; a majority of studies either focus on populations of White women or are missing demographic information entirely.

CONCLUSIONS

Future studies should include larger, more racially and ethnically inclusive populations and particular attention should be paid to how excess androgens and insulin resistance contribute to the increased risk of NAFLD seen in women with PCOS of varying weights, ages, and ethnicities.

OBJECTIVE AND METHODS

Here, we review NAFLD in women with PCOS with subsections focused on the impact of hyperandrogenism, BMI, insulin resistance and age. Most notably, we present the most up-to-date racially and ethnically diverse worldwide prevalence of NAFLD in women with PCOS compared with women without PCOS (51.56% vs 29.64%, P < .001, respectively).

Demography and the rise, apparent fall, and resurgence of eugenics

Demography was heavily involved in the eugenics movement of the early twentieth century but, along with most other social science disciplines, largely rejected eugenic thinking in the decades after the Second World War. Eugenic ideology never entirely deserted academia, however, and in the twenty-first century, it is re-emerging into mainstream academic discussion. This paper aims, first, to provide a reminder of demography's early links with eugenics and, second, to raise awareness of this academic resurgence of eugenic ideology. The final aim of the paper is to recommend ways to counter this resurgence: these include more active discussion of demography's eugenic past, especially when training students; greater emphasis on critical approaches in demography; and greater engagement of demographers (and other social scientists) with biologists and geneticists, in order to ensure that research which combines the biological and social sciences is rigorous.

Principles of Researching Health Disparities in Longitudinal Cohort Studies Enrolling Children

Health disparities are defined on the basis of specific populations that, when compared to the general population, have a significant disparity on the rate of disease incidence, prevalence, morbidity, mortality, or survival. People that experience health disparities can be defined by multiple criteria. As the diversity of the United States broadens and increases, research on the origins and causes of health disparities becomes more important to support a healthy general population. Children are particularly sensitive to and vulnerable to health disparities due to the potentially life long consequences of events during periods of critical organ, intellectual and social development. The concept of health justice whereby each individual has the opportunity to realize their full health potential can only be realized with proper understanding and relevant data to frame practice, policy and actions. The National Children's Study (NCS) was a longitudinal birth cohort study designed to incorporate the principles of the Federal Collaboration on Health Disparities Research in consultation with subject matter experts, community representatives, and ongoing evaluation to ensure high quality and relevant data on factors that impact health outcomes. The NCS developed and tested a model of enrolling a diverse population, capturing and integrating data using a life course framework, constructing individual profiles, then aggregating individuals into groups based on profiles and outcomes. This approach is applicable to other longitudinal cohort studies.

The color of normal: How a Eurocentric focus erases pigmentation complexity

OBJECTIVES

Skin pigmentation is both a highly variable and highly visible human phenotypic trait. Investigations into the biology and origins of this variation have been the focus of research in the fields of dermatology, anthropology, and forensic science, among others. This manuscript explores how much of what we know about the biology, genetics, and evolutionary origins of pigmentation has been strongly influenced by investigations and applications that focus on lighter skin.

METHODS

I reviewed literature from the fields of dermatology, anthropology and evolutionary genetics, and forensic science to assess how perceptions of lighter skin as the "normal" state in humans can shape the ways that knowledge is gathered and applied in these fields.

RESULTS

This normalization of lighter skin has impacted common tools used in dermatology and shaped the framework of dermatological education. A strong Eurocentric bias has shaped our understanding of the genetic architecture of pigmentary traits, which influences the ways in we understand the evolutionary processes leading to modern pigmentation diversity. Finally, I discuss how these biases in pigmentation genetics work in combination with phenotypic systems that privilege predicting lighter pigmentation variation to impede accurate prediction of intermediate phenotypes, particularly in individuals with ancestry from multiple populations. This can lead to a disproportionate targeting of already over-policed populations with darker skin.

CONCLUSIONS

Potential changes to how we conceptualize clinical and basic pigmentation research may help to reduce existing health disparities and improve understanding of pigmentation genetic architecture and how this knowledge is applied in forensic contexts.

Janus-faced race: Is race biological, social, or mythical?

As belief in the reality of race as a biological category among U.S. anthropologists has fallen, belief in the reality of race as a social category has risen in its place. The view that race simply does not exist-that it is a myth-is treated with suspicion. While racial classification is linked to many of the worst evils of recent history, it is now widely believed to be necessary to fight back against racism. In this article, I argue that race is indeed a biological fiction, but I critique the claim that race is socially real. I defend a form of anti-realist reconstructionism about race, which says that there are no races, only racialized groups-groups mistakenly believed to be races. I argue that this is the most attractive position about race from a metaphysical perspective, and that it is also the position most conductive to public understanding and social justice.

Language use in ancestry research and estimation

Recent discussions have revolved around the concept of ancestry and ancestry estimation; however, the associated terminology and its theoretical underpinnings have not been similarly examined. This research evaluates the concepts (e.g., race, ancestry, ethnicity) currently in use, examines if they are consistent with the groups employed to illustrate them (e.g., Black, European, Hispanic), and looks for patterns in language usage. Articles in the Anthropology, Odontology, and General sections of the Journal of Forensic Sciences between 2009 and 2019 were evaluated for ancestry-related language use. For each article, the concepts, examples, and bibliographic information were recorded, and the relationship between concept and example was examined. These data were cross-tabulated to evaluate relationships between the variables. Cramer's V was used to assess the strength of association of these relationships. In this sample, ancestry predominates, especially recently The concept used is significantly associated with all variables except publication date and authors' institution(s). Despite the prevalence of the ancestry concept, racially based terms for individual groups were common. The use of ancestry, over race, in forensic contexts has been suggested to be a primarily linguistic change; these results may support that assertion. Inconsistent language usage leads to a lack of clarity in meaning among researchers and misinterpretation of the data. It is critical to recognize that inconsistencies exist, but also to understand why they exist. These results underscore the long overdue need for the inclusion of diverse perspectives in forensic anthropology, especially in the current conversations surrounding ancestry and ancestry estimation.

Using Anthropological Principles to Transform the Teaching of Human "Difference" and Genetic Variation in College Classrooms

Exposure to information about genetics is at an all-time high, while a full understanding of the biocultural complexity of human difference is low. This paper demonstrates the value of an "anthropological approach" to enhance genetics education in biology, anthropology, and other related disciplines, when teaching about human differences such as race/ethnicity, sex/gender, and disability. As part of this approach, we challenge educators across social and natural sciences to critically examine and dismantle the tacit cultural assumptions that shape our understanding of genetics and inform the way we perceive (and teach about) human differences. It calls on educators from both social and natural science disciplines to "de-silo" their classrooms and uses examples from our biological anthropology and sociocultural anthropology classrooms, to demonstrate how educators can better contextualize the "genetics" of human difference in their own teaching. Numerous opportunities to transform our teaching exist, and we are doing a disservice to our students by not taking these critical steps.

Resurecting raciology? Genetic ethnology and pre-1945 anthropological race classification

This article places the current high-profile and controversial scientific project that I call 'genetic ethnology' within the same two-century tradition of biologically classifying modern peoples as pre-1945 race anthropology. Similarities in how these two biological projects have combined political and scientific agendas raise questions about the liberalism of genetics and stimulate concerns that genetic constructions of human difference might revive a politics of hate, division and hierarchy. The present article however goes beyond existing work that links modern genetics with race anthropology. It systematically compares their many similar practices and organisational features, showing that both projects were political-scientific syntheses. Studying how the origins, geography, filiations, 'travels and encounters of our ancestors' affect 'current genetic variation', both seem to have responded to a continuous public demand for biologists to explain the histories of politically significant peoples and give them a scientific basis. I challenge habitual contrasts between apolitical scientific genetics and racist pseudoscience and use race anthropology as a parable for how, in the era of Brexit and Trump, right-wing identity politics might infect genetic ethnology. I argue however that although biology-based identities carry risks of essentialism and determinism, the practices and organisation of classification pose greater political dangers.

Human Face-Selective Cortex Does Not Distinguish between Members of a Racial Outgroup

People often fail to individuate members of social outgroups, a phenomenon known as the outgroup homogeneity effect. Here, we used functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) repetition suppression to investigate the neural representation underlying this effect. In a preregistered study, White human perceivers (N = 29) responded to pairs of faces depicting White or Black targets. In each pair, the second face depicted either the same target as the first face, a different target from the same race, or a scrambled face outline. We localized face-selective neural regions via an independent task, and demonstrated that neural activity in the fusiform face area (FFA) distinguished different faces only when targets belonged to the perceivers' racial ingroup (White). By contrast, face-selective cortex did not discriminate between other-race individuals. Moreover, across two studies (total N = 67) perceivers were slower to discriminate between different outgroup members and remembered them to a lesser extent. Together, these results suggest that the outgroup homogeneity effect arises when early-to-mid-level visual processing results in an erroneous overlap of representations of outgroup members.

A content analysis of the views of genetics professionals on race, ancestry, and genetics

Over the past decade, the proliferation of genetic studies on human health and disease has reinvigorated debates about the appropriate role of race and ancestry in research and clinical care. Here we report on the responses of genetics professionals to a survey about their views on race, genetics, and ancestry across the domains of science, medicine, and society. Through a qualitative content analysis of free-text comments from 515 survey respondents, we identified key themes pertaining to multiple meanings of race, the use of race as a proxy for genetic ancestry, and the relevance of race and ancestry to health. Our findings suggest that for many genetics professionals the questions of what race is and what race means remain both professionally and personally contentious. Looking ahead as genomics is translated into the practice of precision medicine and as learning health care systems offer continued improvements in care through integrated research, we argue for nuanced considerations of both race and genetic ancestry across research and care settings.

Humans do not perceive conspecifics with a greater exposed sclera as more trustworthy: a preliminary cross-ethnic study of the function of the overexposed human sclera

Understanding the adaptive function of the unique morphology of the human eye, in particular its overexposed white sclera, may have profound implications for the fields of evolutionary behavioural science, and specifically the areas of human interaction and social cognition. Existing hypotheses, such as the cooperative eye hypothesis, have attracted a lot of attention but remain untested. Here, we: (i) analysed variation in the visible sclera size in humans from different ethnic backgrounds and (ii) examined whether intraspecific variation of exposed sclera size is related to trust. We used 596 facial photographs of men and women, assessed for perceived trustworthiness, from four different self-declared racial backgrounds. The size of the exposed sclera was measured as the ratio between the width of the exposed eyeball and the diameter of the iris (sclera size index, SSI). The SSI did not differ in the four examined races and was sexually monomorphic except for Whites, where males had a larger SSI than females. In general, the association between the SSI and trustworthiness was statistically insignificant. An inverted U-shaped link was found only in White women, yet the strength of the effect of interaction between sex and race was very small. Our results did not provide evidence for the link between exposed sclera size and trustworthiness. We conclude that further investigation is necessary in order to properly assess the hypotheses relating to the socially relevant functions of overexposed sclera.

Genes, Race, and Causation: US Public Perspectives About Racial Difference

Concerns have been raised that the increase in popular interest in genetics may herald a new era within which racial inequities are seen as 'natural' or immutable. In the following study, we provide data from a nationally representative survey on how the US population perceives general ability, athleticism, and intellect being determined by race and/or genetics and whether they believe racial health inequities to be primarily the product of genetic or social factors. We find that self-described race is of primary importance in attributing general ability to race, increasing age is a significant factor in attributing athleticism and intellect to genes and race, and education is a significant factor in decreasing such racially and genetically deterministic views . Beliefs about the meaning of race are statistically significantly associated with respect to the perception of athletic abilities and marginally associated with the perception of racial health inequalities being either socially or genetically derived. Race, education, socioeconomic status, and concepts of race were frequently found to be multiplicative in their statistical effects. The persistent acceptance of a genetically and racially deterministic view of athleticism among the White and older population group is discussed in respect to its social impact, as is the high level of agreement that general abilities are determined by race among non-White respondents and those of lower socioeconomic status. We argue that these findings highlight that both biological and non-biological forms of understanding race continue to play a role into the politics of race and social difference within contemporary US society.

A Qualitative Analysis of How Anthropologists Interpret the Race Construct

This article assesses anthropological thinking about the race concept and its applications. Drawn from a broader national survey of geneticists' and anthropologists' views on race, in this analysis, we provide a qualitative account of anthropologists' perspectives. We delve deeper than simply asserting that "race is a social construct." Instead, we explore the differential ways in which anthropologists describe and interpret how race is constructed. Utilizing the heuristic of constructors, shifters, and reconcilers, we also illustrate the ways in which anthropologists conceptualize their interpretations of race along a broad spectrum as well as what these differential approaches reveal about the ideological and biological consequences of socially defined races, such as racism in general and racialized health disparities in particular. [race concept, social construction, racism, health disparities].