Genetics defies any attempt to define clear categories for race and gender

Genetics defies any attempt to define clear categories for race and gender

When we think about genetics, why do we almost automatically think about differences? We ask how different we are from other people because of our genes, and from other organisms. As a geneticist, I’ve always found it curious how we tend to focus on differences. Why not ask how similar we are? This was the topic of my talk at the Fronteiras do Pensamento Festival in May 2025, in Porto Alegre. I took the opportunity to talk about differences, sim…