Eugenics

Many geneticists in the early 1900s promoted eugenics, and eugenic practices were certainly part of the genetics discussion. Here is a quote from Haldane as an example.

"This may be taken as a rough estimate of the price which the species pays for the variability which is probably a prerequisite for evolution. ... In other words, if we could achieve the aim of negative eugenics and abolish all genes (including autosomal recessives, most of which can not even be detected at present) which seriously lower fitness in our present environments, we might expect a gain in fitness of the order of 10 per cent., though this might lower our capacity for evolution in a changed environment."—p. 348, Haldane 1937

Eugenic practices such as involuntary sterilizations in the United States became widely adopted. This started to fall out of favor after World War II but some laws and practices 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."—p. 796, 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. There are also not a lot of sources of solid information about the US eugenics programs (though some excellent sources do exist, which I will attempt to collect below). 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 (comprehensive coverage of the US eugenics movement)
• Stern 2005 (focused on eugenics in California)
• Provine 1973 (not about eugenics but relevant to the issues involved)
• Gould 1984 (commentary on the Carrie Buck case in Virginia)
• Lombardo 2003 (also about the Carrie Buck case)