A Troublesome Inheritance Summary

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I am writing to you to critique three elements of your book A Troublesome Inheritance: Genes, Race and Human History. Specifically, your understanding of 'populations' and 'population differences, your omission of colonial exploitation and imperialism in creating and supplementing the "The rise of the West", and why and how your arguments can have problematic consequences if believed by the public.
Within your conceptualization of population and population differences, you suggest that there is indeed a biological reality to race, through genetic populations based on. Discussing that racial differences were accumulated over time and that these differences have resulted in European societies being genetically superior in the construction of …show more content…
Specifically, that population differences are used by geneticists to refer to differences due to population substructure (ibid:11). In the construction of "populations" and "population differences", different variables are used, and the specific one varies from study to study. Using geographical history and notions and relating them to genetic similarity, ancestry (AIM), race/ethnicity (SIRE), or nationality (ibid:12). However, as mentioned these vary and different genetic populations are created as a result, due to different inputs, how far back are they going, what terms are they using (benchmarks) (Shim et al. 505; Fujimura and Rajagopalan 2011: 19)? To produce data, researchers use a mathematical algorithm named EIGENSTRAT, which produce numerical SNPs (genetic markers) scores that are relatable to other people’s genetic marker patterns (ibid:19). The goal is to locate and isolate the genetic markers that are associated with complex diseases (ibid:19). What occurs as a result are varying studies, as scientists produce different kinds of populations and differences due to using different processes. However, what is evident, is that tracing genetics through ancestry to genetic locations are heavily impacted by socio-cultural discourses on human history, geography and of the migration patterns of humans (ibid:19). Fujimura and Rajagopalan …show more content…
However, we share 99.9 percent of the same code, and SNPs are scientifically social constructed populations to help track the movement of genetic diseases. Although, what this does showcase, is that your belief that genetic research is biologically related to race, is false, due to the constructive populations being created through selective SNPs, and algorithm inputs are chosen by scientists. Additionally, US scientific research, for example, is dominated by the researchers having to conform to government mandates, they are presented with what terms to use (Shim et al. 2014: 507). This produces unnatural results. Lastly, EIGENSTRAT was the software analyzed by Fujimura and Rajagopalan, however, Shem et al, discusses ATLAS.ti (Shim et al. 2014: 507; Fujimura and Rajagopalan 2011: 7). Thus, data is uploaded through different analysis software showcasing that results of studies are contingent upon the resources at there disposal, others being funding for instance. Evident by the following, is that scientists create populations, and they are aware of it, however, it is done to simplify and categorize data, not to support that race is
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