World DNA Day – 25 April: debunking racism with DNA and proving that there is no superior or infe...

While commemorating World DNA Day, we should ask, at what point does the world accept the science that there is no such thing as racial superiority and inferiority? For those who are still struggling with that fact, it could be because the science was not explained to them. Instead of arguing with them, let us refer them to the human genome project, which mapped the human genes and confirmed that the human species is 99.9% the same. That was almost twenty-six years ago, in April 1993 and sequencing was completed in 2003 confirming that humans are 99.5% genetically identical.

We have known all along that blood transfusions, organ and tissue transplantations could only be done within species. Race and ethnicity are not science but social constructs. What then is the problem? Maybe understanding genetic science is the problem. The role of our governments, educators and jurists is also to educate, which is why this petition goes to the United Nations, federal and local governments of all nations, federal and local courts of all nations and schools to settle the arguments, based on science, once and for all that there is no inferior or superior race.

This is to say that all living things in the same category belong to the same species. Almost 8 billion of us belong the human species. We also know that not two humans, except identical twins, are alike. What does that mean and how do we know this? We know this with the help of the double-helix structure deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). In 1953, Nobel Laureates, Doctors Watson and Crick of Cambridge University, United Kingdom, showed us that the human DNA proves our uniqueness. In 1984, Dr. Jeffreys of the University of Leicester, United Kingdom, linked that uniqueness to help solve the first crime with the help of DNA testing, a.k.a. genetic fingerprinting. The human genome project that started in 1990 and was completed in 1993, which involved 1,000 scientists from 6 continents, 20 institutions and cost less than 3 billion USD to map the entire human genes.

Although we are still finding many more uses of DNA, it is now used routinely to solve crimes (convict or exonerate), prove paternity, identify human remains, diagnose diseases, treat patients and in medical research and food science. Not only human DNA but also plant DNA has been used to solve crimes, which means the uniqueness that applies to the human species also applies to all living things (zoology and botany). For those interested, there are seven taxonomic hierarchies within species that are common to all living things, plants and animals: species, genus, order, class, phylum, kingdom, and domain.

Let us cut to the chase. Have there been blood transfusions and organ transplantations among the races and would someone who assumes superiority accept blood from those he/she considers inferior? Would they even know the donors? Let you be the judge. Imagine a world where everybody looks alike, like identical twins. That is not the case and even within a family, we find differences. It is a long story but the color of ones’ skin was determined by evolution. Those differences give us our unique characters and our individuality but do not make us superior or inferior, period!

Wherever you are, on 25 April 2019, join the UN and the National Human Genome Research Institute of NIH to celebrate the human DNA. It is a big deal!

For more information:
https://www.genome.gov/10506367/national-dna-day/
https://www.adl.org/racism
https://www.genome.gov/12011238/an-overview-of-the-human-genome-project/
https://www.un.org

Thank you,
Enku Kebede-Francis, PhD, MS, MEd