Glad to be part of a stellar team that came together #onhere to respond to a recent example of racist ideas in science. Our letter in the current issue of @JInternMed identifies six errors grounded in a prior commitment to racial essentialism. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/joim.13153

1/

The team was led by @tsaiduck77 and includes @jes_cerdena, @EdwinLindo, @sofsandovl, @AndreaWestbyMD, @rohankhaz, @DrJRMarcelin, and @aishwaryarajdo. It all started with this tweet from @tsaiduck77. 2/ https://twitter.com/tsaiduck77/status/1259136407840239618

What originally got our attention was the odious graphical abstract, which also caught the attention of the publisher and anti-stigma advocacy groups. But the problems go beyond the abstract and cut to pervasive assumptions about race, genes, and biology in medical sciences. 3/ https://twitter.com/wileyinresearch/status/1259177794346651655

In our letter, we identify six problems in the article itself, part of a symposium on obesity, type 2 diabetes, and “the role of ethnicity.” 4/

First, the authors falsely assume that racialized groups are distinct biological types, such that physiological differences are presumed to have a genetic basis. This assumption is contrary to what we know about patterns and sources of human biological variation. 5/

Second, although the paper asserts a genetic basis for metabolic differences between racialized groups, it presents no genetic data. That’s right: none. The assumption that race = genetics sustains the whole argument, which is not how science is supposed to work. 6/

Third, setting aside problematic assumptions about race, the paper does not address contradictory evidence against the carbohydrate-insulin model they describe. Add the problems with race, and they are proposing a five-way interaction model that lacks empirical support. 7/

Fourth, contrary to guidelines from @CScienceEditors, the authors perpetuate the use of “Caucasian,” apparently unaware of its racist history or the way it pretends that unscientific labels for racialized groups have a legitimate scientific basis. 8/

Fifth, the paper never mentions racism. It implies that biology is only determined by genes. It doesn’t consider how physiology can be conditioned by a lifetime of experiences and exposures structured by racist policies and practices. 9/

Sixth, beyond systemic racism, the paper neglects evidence linking the direct experience of interpersonal discrimination to obesity, diabetes, and other metabolic outcomes. Relevant here is a recent paper of ours led by @MichelleCardel. 10/ https://twitter.com/lancegravlee/status/1288893601288720386

This example is important not because it is exceptional but rather because it remains common. Unwarranted ideas about race, genes, and disease continue to circulate routinely in medicine and need to be challenged at every turn. Thanks for bringing us together, @tsaiduck77. /end