Thank you for sharing the helpful information. Its problematic to not know whether or not this was his only “offense” (using that term liberally here)…
And I am not an expert on the scope of systems biology. I imagine genetics is one part of that just based on the word ‘systems’ alone. I am pointing this out because while that credential is impressive (and I already said he isn’t 100% wrong) I still think his points were way too focused on ‘nature’ without any nuance.
The OP here is arguing actual genetic makeup that makes her predisposed towards STEM. She is representative of how genetics actually work. The coding that happens when an egg and sperm meet inform gender and every other characteristic expressed in our phenotype. It isn’t a simplistic matter — the human genome is literally terabytes of data and each of us are different.
His arguments lack substance regarding our conditioning. Nature informs what we will be drawn to, but our environments direct our natural passions. It is wrong to over-simplify genetics and innate capability of any group.
So, if you are saying his argument was rooted in eugenic science, ok, that’s what I read too. I also know that eugenics on their own without context are rejected.
I’m not a geneticist. But I did work in the genetics department (in IT) on the medical campus of one of the most respected universities in the country for many years. Part of what I did was managing human genetic data for statistical analysis, so I’m no stranger to these concepts.
I don’t use my real name on this site for a reason, but if I gave it to you and you searched it, you would find my name in peer reviewed medical journal publications in the acknowledgements section. 😊
See below for medical journal references you can look at for more information about eugenics (not associated with the aforementioned credits).
Am J Hum Genet. 1991 Nov; 49(5): 1109 — 1118.
PMCID: PMC1683254
Eugenics: past, present, and the future.
K L Garver and B Garver
Allen GE. Genetics, eugenics and class struggle. Genetics. 1975 Jun;79 (Suppl):29 — 45. [PubMed]
Beckwith J. Social and political uses of genetics in the United States: past and present. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 1976;265:46 — 58. [PubMed]
Bird RD, Allen G. The J.H.B. Archive report: the papers of Harry Hamilton Laughlin, eugenicist. J Hist Biol. 1981 Fall;14(2):339 — 353. [PubMed]
Carter CO, Roberts JA, Evans KA, Buck AR. Genetic clinic. A follow-up. Lancet. 1971 Feb 6;1(7693):281 — 285. [PubMed]
Chapple JC, Dale R, Evans BG. The new genetics: will it pay its way? Lancet. 1987 May 23;1(8543):1189 — 1192. [PubMed]
Clarke A. Genetics, ethics, and audit. Lancet. 1990 May 12;335(8698):1145 — 1147. [PubMed]
Cowan RS. Francis Galton’s contribution to genetics. J Hist Biol. 1972 Fall;5(2):389 — 412. [PubMed]
DICE LR. Heredity clinics: their value for public service and for research. Am J Hum Genet. 1952 Mar;4(1):1 — 13. [PMC free article] [PubMed]
DUNN LC. Cross currents in the history of human genetics. Am J Hum Genet. 1962 Mar;14:1 — 13. [PMC free article] [PubMed]
Glass B. A hidden chapter of German eugenics between the two world wars. Proc Am Philos Soc. 1981;125(5):357 — 367. [PubMed]
Prenatal diagnosis and genetic screening. Community and service implications. Summary and recommendations of a report of the Royal College of Physicians. J R Coll Physicians Lond. 1989 Oct;23(4):215 — 220. [PubMed]
LaChat Michael R. Utilitarian reasoning in Nazi medical policy: some preliminary investigations. Linacre Q. 1975 Feb;42(1):14 — 37. [PubMed]
Levinsky NG. Age as a criterion for rationing health care. N Engl J Med. 1990 Jun 21;322(25):1813 — 1816. [PubMed]
McKusick VA. Mapping and sequencing the human genome. N Engl J Med. 1989 Apr 6;320(14):910 — 915. [PubMed]
Modell B, Kuliev AM. Impact of public health on human genetics. Clin Genet. 1989 Nov;36(5):286 — 298. [PubMed]
Osborn F. History of the American Eugenics Society. Soc Biol. 1974 Summer;21(2):115 — 126. [PubMed]
Paul D. Eugenics and the Left. J Hist Ideas. 1984 Oct-Dec;45(4):567 — 590. [PubMed]
Petchesky RP. Reproduction, ethics, and public policy: the federal sterilization regulations. Hastings Cent Rep. 1979 Oct;9(5):29 — 41. [PubMed]
Pfäfflin F. The connections between eugenics, sterilization and mass murder in Germany from 1933 to 1945. Med Law. 1986;5(1):1 — 10. [PubMed]
REED SC. The local eugenics society. Am J Hum Genet. 1957 Mar;9(1):1 — 8. [PMC free article] [PubMed]
Reilly P. The surgical solution: the writings of activist physicians in the early days of eugenical sterilization. Perspect Biol Med. 1983 Summer;26(4):637 — 656. [PubMed]
Relman AS. Reforming the health care system. N Engl J Med. 1990 Oct 4;323(14):991 — 992. [PubMed]
Buss AR. Galton and the birth of differential psychology and eugenics: social, political, and economic forces. J Hist Behav Sci. 1976 Jan;12(1):47 — 58. [PubMed]
Sapp J. The struggle for authority in the field of heredity, 1900–1932: new perspectives on the rise of genetics. J Hist Biol. 1983 Fall;16(3):311 — 342. [PubMed]
Seidelman WE. In memoriam: medicine’s confrontation with evil. Hastings Cent Rep. 1989 Nov-Dec;19(6):5 — 6. [PubMed]
Thielman SB. Psychiatry and social values: the American Psychiatric Association and immigration restriction, 1880–1930. Psychiatry. 1985 Nov;48(4):299 — 310. [PubMed]
Tormey JF. Ethical considerations of prenatal genetic diagnosis. Clin Obstet Gynecol. 1976 Dec;19(4):957 — 963. [PubMed]
Weindling P. Weimar eugenics: the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute for Anthropology, human heredity and eugenics in social context. Ann Sci. 1985 May;42(3):303 — 318. [PubMed]
Weiss SF. Wilhelm Schallmayer and the logic of German eugenics. Isis. 1986 Mar;77(286):33 — 46. [PubMed]
Wilfond Benjamin S, Fost Norman. The cystic fibrosis gene: medical and social implications for heterozygote detection. JAMA. 1990 May 23;263(10):2777 — 2783. [PubMed]
