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Cited by 130Race, Genetics, and SocietyMedical History and ResearchForensic and Genetic Research

ASHG Denounces Attempts to Link Genetics and Racial Supremacy

Open access
·2018·The American Journal of Human Genetics
DOI 10.1016/j.ajhg.2018.10.011PMC PMC6218810
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Abstract

The American Society of Human Genetics (ASHG) is alarmed to see a societal resurgence of groups rejecting the value of genetic diversity and using discredited or distorted genetic concepts to bolster bogus claims of white supremacy. ASHG denounces this misuse of genetics to feed racist ideologies. In public dialog, our research community should be clear about genetic knowledge related to ancestry and genomic diversity. To that end, ASHG affirms the following:

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1016/j.ajhg.2018.10.011

Cites

8 of 8 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Nothing to recompute.

Claims the paper makes

7 of 9 cited sources checked · 2 supported · 0 flagged · accuracy not yet measured

  • Premisecitation
    § Abstract

    There is considerable genetic overlap among members of different populations.

    “There is considerable genetic overlap among members of different populations.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim1 of 1 sources checked
    • cites [7] Hellenthal, 2014, A genetic atlas of human admixture history, Science source
  • Premisecitation
    § Abstract

    Most human genetic variation is distributed as a gradient.

    “Most human genetic variation is distributed as a gradient”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim1 of 1 sources checked
    • cites [7] Hellenthal, 2014, A genetic atlas of human admixture history, Science source

      The paper’s account of haplotype sharing and admixture among populations does not say that most human genetic variation is distributed as a gradient. Searches for a genetic gradient or cline found no passage in our copy addressing that claim. (LLM, conf=0.73)

      Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • Premisecitation
    § Abstract

    Such analyses are providing increasingly accurate ways of helping to define individuals' ancestral origins.

    “Such analyses 8 are providing increasingly accurate ways of helping to define individuals' ancestral origins”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim1 of 1 sources checked
    • cites [8] Royal, 2010, Inferring genetic ancestry: Opportunities, challenges, and implications, Am. J. Hum. Genet. source

      Our indexed copy yields a table of contents, including an “Accuracy of Ancestry Inferences” heading, and a list of links, but no substantive passage from that section. Searches for increasingly accurate ancestry inference and advances in genetic analysis found no text establishing the claimed improvement, so the claim cannot be verified from this copy. (LLM, conf=0.73)

      Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • Premisecitation
    § Abstract

    Such patterns of genome variation are explained by patterns of migration and mixing of different populations throughout human history.

    “Such patterns of genome variation are explained by patterns of migration and mixing of different populations throughout human history.7”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim1 of 1 sources checked
    • cites [7] Hellenthal, 2014, A genetic atlas of human admixture history, Science source
  • Premisecitation
    § Abstract

    Humans cannot be divided into biologically distinct subcategories.

    “Genetics demonstrates that humans cannot be divided into biologically distinct subcategories.”
    • Also stated in: § Abstract · boosted
      “the study of human genetics challenges the traditional concept of different races of humans as biologically separate and distinct.”
    Quote in the paperSubstantial claim1 of 3 sources checked
    • cites [1] Editorial, 2002, Slicing soup, Nat. Biotechnol. source

      The editorial (p. 637) argues that conventional racial categories are poor genetic divisions, likening attempts to define race genetically to ‘slicing soup.’ But the claim is more absolute than the source: it allows that geographically isolated populations may provide a basis for defining groups and notes inherited differences among some human groupings. (LLM, conf=0.86)

      Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
    • cites [2] Jorde, 2004, Genetic variation, classification and ‘race’, Nat. Genet. source
    • cites [3] Keita, 2004, Conceptualizing human variation, Nat. Genet. source
  • Classified as probably not a substantial claim. 5

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S2 (checkable), S3 (load-bearing).

    Interpretationcitation
    § Abstract

    Such analyses are enabling new ways to explore and discuss ancestries that move us beyond blunt definitions of self-identified race.

    “and enabling new ways to explore and discuss ancestries that move us beyond blunt definitions of self-identified race.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim1 of 1 sources checked
    • cites [8] Royal, 2010, Inferring genetic ancestry: Opportunities, challenges, and implications, Am. J. Hum. Genet. source

      The available copy returns only the table of contents and a list of web resources; it provides no substantive passage from the named sections. Searches for self-identified race and for genetic ancestry offering a more nuanced account than racial categories did not retrieve text addressing the claim. (LLM, conf=0.72)

      Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S3 (load-bearing).

    Premisecitation
    § Abstract

    The past decade has seen the emergence of strategies for assessing an individual's genetic ancestry.

    “The past decade has seen the emergence of strategies for assessing an individual's genetic ancestry.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim1 of 1 sources checked
    • cites [8] Royal, 2010, Inferring genetic ancestry: Opportunities, challenges, and implications, Am. J. Hum. Genet. source

      The available indexed passages contain a contents heading, “Tools for Inferring Ancestry,” but no discussion establishing when those strategies emerged. Searches for the past decade, ancestry-estimation methods, and relevant dates returned only the contents and a list of websites, so the claimed timeline cannot be verified from our copy. (LLM, conf=0.70)

      Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S2 (checkable), S4 (based).

    Interpretationreasoning
    § Abstract

    Any attempt to use genetics to rank populations demonstrates a fundamental misunderstanding of genetics.

    “Any attempt to use genetics to rank populations demonstrates a fundamental misunderstanding of genetics.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S4 (based).

    Interpretationreasoning
    § Abstract

    There can be no genetics-based support for claiming one group as superior to another.

    “It follows that there can be no genetics-based support for claiming one group as superior to another.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim

  • Probably not a substantial claim: may not pass S2 (checkable), S4 (based).

    Interpretationreasoning
    § Abstract

    Race itself is a social construct.

    “race itself is a social construct.”
    Quote in the paperNot a substantial claim
5 of 5

  • The paper relies on this without support.

    The invocation of genetics to promote racist ideologies is one of many factors causing racism to persist.

    “Recognizing that the invocation of genetics to promote racist ideologies is one of many factors causing racism to persist”
1 of 1

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • Modern genetics research is often appropriated by white supremacist movements to argue that disparities by race in health, jobs, and criminal justice stem from genetic inferiority of people of color instead of environmental and historical disadvantages.

    “Modern genetics research is routinely appropriated by white supremacist movements to argue that racialized disparities in health, employment, and criminal justice system involvement are due to the genetic inferiority of people of color rather than environmental and historical disadvantages59.”

    From Multivariate analysis of 1.5 million people identifies genetic associations with traits related to self-regulation and addiction. (2021) · cites this paper as [59]

    Split into 2 atoms — 0 confirmed, 2 partially supported, 0 disputed, 0 misattributed, 0 unverifiable. Expand the claim to see per-atom verdicts.

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

Cites

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Cited by

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Related

Venue
The American Journal of Human Genetics
Publisher
Elsevier BV
Published
2018-11
Volume
103
Issue
5
Pages
636
ISSN
0002-9297 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1016/j.ajhg.2018.10.011
PMC
PMC6218810
OpenAlex
W4254438039
Semantic Scholar
bf5a1d8dff7ad71d4b14fed7067197a62c3cdf1a
Cited by
130
References
8
Citations by year
2026: 7 · 2025: 7 · 2024: 11 · 2023: 58 · 2022: 13 · 2021: 16 · 2020: 10 · 2019: 8
FWCI
5.21
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • The American Journal of Human Genetics (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Race, Genetics, and Society
  • Social Sciences › Arts and Humanities › History › Medical History and Research
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Forensic and Genetic Research
Keywords
racial supremacy, white supremacy, genetic diversity, ancestry, genomic diversity, racism, genetic concepts
MeSH terms
Genetics, Medical, Humans, Societies, Scientific, United States, Genetic Variation, Genome, Human, Racial Groups

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Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Claims read by deepseek-v4.1-flash under definition version 3 (extract-v3) on 2026-10-29.

Classified by jev-1.13-20260917 (gold-guideline-v0.2) on 2026-10-29.

Cited sources are checked by gpt-6-sol.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

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