Race, Genetics and Health: An Introduction

Abstract

The emergence of putative race-specific or ethnic-specific medicines appears to be overturning a new consensus reached by physical anthropologists that race is a biological fiction. This article examines whether there is substance to the notion that conventional norms of race classification have utility in medical diagnosis and prescription, whether there is legitimacy to notions of race-specific diseases, and whether the genomics revolution promises individualized or racialized medicine. Correspondingly, the article asks how far genetics really can take us in understanding racial health disparities. Finally, the article provides a foreword to four foundational articles in the new field of race, genetics and health.