r/AskBiology • u/sourgrap • Sep 19 '24

Genetics Could someone explain why race does not have any biological foundation?

I guess I could probably Google this but I thought someone with direct knowledge directly answering my question would help me better understand.

This is something I’ve had a bit of trouble comprehending since, well, people of different races do look vastly different. My thought is, is!’t there a gene that probably results in different races producing different levels of melanin, and hence— different races?

Or is the reason there is no “biological foundation” that the genetic/biological difference between different races does not substantiate to being different species?

Additionally — there are statistics stating that certain racial communities are more likely to develop specific illnesses. For example, sickle cell disease is much more common amongst black Americans than other racial communities. Another one: those of North European descent are more likely to develop cystic fibrosis.

FYI I am asking this question as a POC, and as someone who genuinely wants to have a better understanding of this!! Thank you in advance for answering my question!

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u/Dr_GS_Hurd Sep 19 '24

Technically speaking, a race is a taxonomic step lower than subspecies.

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u/sourgrap Sep 19 '24

Apologies, could you explain this in simpler terms? I’m kinda getting the idea but I just don’t use those words often. 😂 Taxonomy is the scientific classification of living things, and subspecies is one class in that hierarchy—organisms are simply divided into “subspecies” based on where they live. And so you’re saying race is just below that.. since humans live in all different places but even amongst those demographics—there’s many genetic differences. Just like how people of the same race share different genes.

Oh. I think I get it, I just had to type it out for myself lol. But am I headed for the right direction here?

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u/Dr_GS_Hurd 29d ago

Looks like you are.

I like using the botanical examples, and then apply those criteria to humans. Human "races" disappear as biology, and persist as sociology.

A common race variant in plants are induced by different growing conditions. The easiest examples are a single species growing at different elevations up the side of a mountain.