90 Years Later: Biosocial Research in Post-Genomic Germany

• In Event: Health Disparities Across Borders: Global Approaches to Understanding Racism, Health, and Human Development

Abstract

Recent advances in human genomics, including genome-wide polygenic scores and epigenetic measures, offer new opportunities to integrate biological measures into population research on social determinants of health and well-being. Yet, genetically-informed research in Germany is historically linked to Nazi dictatorship enacting eugenic pseudoscience through the genocide and oppression of millions of people. In response, German social science research has followed a “gene-blind” and “color-evasive” agenda over the past several decades. Now, two nascent and largely separate streams of social science research are appearing: sociogenomics and research on racism in Germany.

Here we discuss the arrival of sociogenomics in Germany in light of recent research on the continued existence of racialized inequality. We argue that sociogenomics cannot take a “color-evasive” approach when 33% of the German population still believes that some racial/ethnic groups are biologically superior to other groups. Moreover, these early survey studies document racial discrimination in public social systems, including healthcare, education, and employment that need to be further investigated as potential sources of population disparities in health and well-being. Indeed, novel sociogenomic measures, such as epigenetic markers of biological aging, are beginning to be used to study how racism affects people’s health and well-being. While the arrival of sociogenomics in Germany poses the threat of misinterpretation that feeds into existing biases, it may also offer an opportunity to counteract prevailing biodeterministic notions by highlighting the environmental contexts on which genetic effects depend.

Authors

• Muna Aikins, Max Planck Institute for Human Development
  Presenting Author

• Laurel Raffington, University of Texas at Austin