The Change Mariner

Genetics: Does Race Exist?

Mercury News:

In the stratified world of high school, where cliques often form along racial lines, Carolyn Abbott's biotechnology students recently made a startling discovery: More than half of the class at San Jose's Piedmont Hills High School, students from numerous racial and ethnic backgrounds, are linked in their DNA to the same ancestor, born more than 100,000 years ago in central China or Taiwan.

"That's crazy," said junior Christina Romero, as she scanned the wide array of facial features, hair colors and skin tones among 17 teenagers who were suddenly related.

"I finally have an excuse to be in the Chinese Club,'' said sophomore Beth Gomes, a white student among the consanguineous classmates.

It was a highly technical genetics experiment involving polymerase chain reactions and gel electrophoresis. But it yielded deep revelations that forced the identity-conscious teens to re-evaluate their differences. And it prompted students to ponder a perplexing question: Does race exist?

With the recent mapping of the human genome and the intricate picture now available of humans on a molecular level, scientists know that traditional notions of race no longer hold up.

Posted by Bob King at February 9, 2004 09:23 AM | TrackBack
Related Categories: Area - Tech - Genetics | Industry - Pharmaceutical/Biotech | Quadrant - Social | Quadrant - Technological | Social - Race Relations | Theme - 'The Biotech Century'

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