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Stanford researchers argue that there is indeed a biological base for race   4 July 2002

True 'personalized medicine' will depend on a realistic evaluation of each person's racial-genetic ancestry.

An article in this month's Genome Biology, written by Neil Risch and colleagues from Stanford University, challenges the recently adopted view that there is no biological basis for race. They suggest that recent articles proposing this idea - most notably in Nature Genetics and New England Journal of Medicine - are not based on an objective scientific perspective but on an over sensitivity to historical notions of the genetic superiority of one race over another. The Stanford researchers believe that denial of racial differences will lead to poorer health care as the effective planning of disease prevention programmes relies on identifying the people who are most at risk.

Every human being has a uniquely defined risk of developing disease based on their genetic constitution and the environment to which they are exposed during their lives. The ultimate goal of genetic research is to identify all genes that influence the risk of disease. This knowledge would allow researchers to discover risk factors and predict the response to treatments of every individual. Whilst these goals are laudable, this sort of 'personalized medicine' is some way off. Current planning, prevention and treatment strategies operate by identifying genetically similar groups of people, so that resources can be focused on those most at risk of developing a particular disease.

There are two distinct ways of characterizing the differences in disease susceptibility or likely therapeutic response in populations: firstly, identifying groups on the basis of shared genes, using a technique known as genetic clustering, or secondly, categorizing people by self-reported ancestry, or race.

Recent studies have claimed that there is no biological basis for race, and that genetic clustering should be used instead to identify risk factors for disease. Risch and colleagues reject these claims, suggesting that characterizing groups by race is a more useful approach to identifying risks of disease or therapeutic response as it more accurately reflects each person's genetic background and avoids confounding by other factors such as diet, education and income, which may be different in each racial group. Furthermore, they believe that authors who have dismissed the value of using race as an indicator of disease risk do so out of a misguided belief that to treat different races based on their clinical needs is racist.

The authors conclude that, "Every race… has its own collection of clinical priorities based on differing prevalence of diseases. It is a reflection of the diversity of our species - genetic, cultural and sociological… Ignoring our differences, even with the best of intentions, will ultimately lead to the disservice of those who are in the minority."

To read the full text of this article visit: http://genomebiology.com/2002/3/7/comment/2007/?mail=0000130

For further information contact Genome Biology's Editor, Theodora Bloom:
editorial@genomebiology.com

To read further press releases from Genome Biology visit: http://genomebiology.com/pressreleases/

Genome Biology is published by BioMed Central (http://www.biomedcentral.com), an independent online publishing house committed to providing immediate free access to the peer-reviewed biological and medical research it publishes. This commitment is based on the view that open access to research is essential to the rapid and efficient communication of science. In addition to open-access original research, BioMed Central also publishes reviews and other subscription-based content.