This Article  • Full text  • PDF  • Correction  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Citation map  • Citing articles on HighWire  • Citing articles on Web of Science (59)  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Related letters  • Similar articles in JAMA  Topic Collections  • Genetics  • Genetic Disorders  • Alert me on articles by topic  Social Bookmarking   What's this?

Does Race Matter?

Mike Bamshad, MD

JAMA. 2005;294:937-946.

Race is frequently used by clinicians and biomedical researchers to make inferences about an individual’s ancestry and to predict whether an individual carries specific genetic risk factors that influence health. The extent to which race is useful for making such predictions depends on how well race corresponds with genetic inferences of ancestry, how frequently common diseases in different racial groups are influenced by the same vs different gene variants, and whether such variants have the same effects in different racial groups. New studies of human genetic variation show that while genetic ancestry is highly correlated with geographic ancestry, its correlation with race is modest. Therefore, while data on the correspondence of race, ancestry, and health-related traits are still limited, particularly in minority populations, geographic ancestry and explicit genetic information are alternatives to race that appear to be more accurate predictors of genetic risk factors that influence health. Making accurate ancestry inferences is crucial because common diseases and drug responses are sometimes influenced by gene variants that vary in frequency or differ altogether among racial groups. Thus, operationalizing alternatives to race for clinicians will be an important step toward providing more personalized health care.

Author Affiliation: Department of Pediatrics and Department of Human Genetics, Eccles Institute of Human Genetics, University of Utah, Salt Lake City.

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter     What's this?

RELATED LETTERS

Race and Genetic Influences on Health
Reanne Frank and Danielle Frank
JAMA. 2006;295(4):384-385.
EXTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Race and Genetic Influences on Health—Reply
Mike Bamshad
JAMA. 2006;295(4):385-386.
EXTRACT | FULL TEXT  

THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES

Epidemiology of critically ill children in England and Wales: incidence, mortality, deprivation and ethnicity
Parslow et al.
Arch. Dis. Child. 2009;94:210-215.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Prevalence in the United States of Selected Candidate Gene Variants: Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 1991-1994
Chang et al.
Am J Epidemiol 2009;169:54-66.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Genetic Variants of Y Chromosome Are Associated With a Protective Lipid Profile in Black Men
Russo et al.
Arterioscler. Thromb. Vasc. Bio. 2008;28:1569-1574.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Differences in ovarian function parameters between Chinese and Caucasian oocyte donors: do they offer an explanation for lower IVF pregnancy rates in Chinese women?
Gleicher et al.
Hum Reprod 2007;22:2879-2882.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

The Role of Genetic and Sociopolitical Definitions of Racein Clinical Trials
Payne and Royal
J Am Acad Orthop Surg 2007;15:S100-S104.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Prognostic value of expression of ERCC1, thymidylate synthase, and glutathione S-transferase P1 for 5-fluorouracil/oxaliplatin chemotherapy in advanced gastric cancer
Kwon et al.
Ann Oncol 2007;18:504-509.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Racial Differences in Disease Susceptibilities: Intestinal Worm Infections in the Early Twentieth-Century American South
Coelho and McGuire
Soc Hist Med 2006;19:461-482.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Racial and Ethnic Disparity in Participation in DNA Collection at the Atlanta Site of the National Birth Defects Prevention Study
Crider et al.
Am J Epidemiol 2006;164:805-812.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Implications of Small Effect Sizes of Individual Genetic Variants on the Design and Interpretation of Genetic Association Studies of Complex Diseases
Ioannidis et al.
Am J Epidemiol 2006;164:609-614.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Geographic Ancestry, Angiotensinogen Gene Polymorphism, and Cardiovascular Risk
Castellano
Hypertension 2006;48:562-563.
FULL TEXT  

Race and Ethnicity in Medical Research: Requirements Meet Reality
Winker
J Law Med Ethics 2006;34:520-525.
 

Legal Regulation of the Use of Race in Medical Research
Lillquist and Sullivan
J Law Med Ethics 2006;34:535-551.
 

Race and Genetic Influences on Health
Frank and Frank
JAMA 2006;295:384-385.
FULL TEXT  

Socioeconomic Status in Health Research: One Size Does Not Fit All
Braveman et al.
JAMA 2005;294:2879-2888.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT