Eugenics

Many geneticists in the early 1900s promoted eugenics. Eugenic practices such as widespread involuntary sterilizations in the United States became widely adopted. This fell out of favor after World War II but some laws remained until the 1970s. Several years ago I made a comment about the US eugenics programs in a college genetics class I was teaching and realized most of the students had never heard of it. This surprised me and I decided to include a lecture on the history of eugenics programs and the misconceptions many of the arguments were based on each semester thereafter. It is not easy to talk about. However, in my opinion college educated biology majors should understand how science can be misused and how quickly things can go wrong. This also serves as an illustration of the ways science and society interact.

"The real danger is not that biology changes with society, but that the public expects biology to provide the objective truth apart from social influences. Geneticists and the public should realize that the science of genetics is often closely intertwined with social attitudes and political considerations."—Provine 1973

One semester I had a student thank me after class for talking about the history of eugenics and she told me that her aunt had been involuntarily sterilized in the California campaign.

In retrospect it is surprising that so many people are not aware of this history. This is also a criticism I have of many genetics textbooks; they tend to not discuss eugenics or the GMO debate, both of which are important genetics topics for students to understand.

Publications

• Paul 1995
• Stern 2005
• Provine 1973 (not about eugenics but relevant to the issues involved)

...to be continued