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Report Urges Researchers to Rethink Race, Ethnicity, and Ancestry Labels for Their Studies

A new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine advises researchers and scientists to rethink race, ethnicity, and ancestry labels in genetic and genomic research. It suggests researchers should not use race as a proxy for human genetic variation and should instead incorporate environmental factors and use more precise information. The report provides a new framework and decision tree to help researchers select appropriate descriptors and labels for their studies, which should be tailored to the study type and purpose. Researchers should be transparent about their process for selecting and assigning group labels, and funding agencies, institutions, and scientific journals should align their policies and procedures with the report’s recommendations.


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Using Population Descriptors in Genetics and Genomics Research View Complete Report