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<li> Grandson of Ida B. Wells-Barnett, newspaper publisher, muckraker and antilynching crusader.
<li> "The King of Coolocity," says Harry G. Levine of Queens College, City University of New York, because like a disciplined musician Duster combines seriousness, virtuoso skill, grace, balance and a relaxed playfulness in his work (he is a jazz aficionado).
<li> Current worry: "It is almost inevitable that a research agenda will surface to try to find patterns of allele frequencies and then create computer-generated profiles of different types of criminals."
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TROY DUSTER: THINKING ABOUT GENES
Image: ADAM FRIEDBERG
Race doesn't exist, the mantra went. The DNA inside people with different complexions and hair textures is 99.9 percent alike, so the notion of race had no meaning in science. At a National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) meeting five years ago, geneticists were all nodding in agreement. Then sociologist Troy Duster pulled a forensics paper out of his briefcase. It claimed that criminologists could find out whether a suspect was Caucasian, Afro-Caribbean or Asian Indian merely by analyzing three sections of DNA.
"It was chilling," recalls Francis S. Collins, director of the institute. He had not been aware of DNA sequences that could identify race, and it shocked him that the information can be used to investigate crimes. "It stopped the conversation in its tracks."
This article was originally published with the title The Reality of Race.
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1 Comments
Add CommentThat's the .1 percent difference. The three families that populated the world. Still one human race.
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