Bioethicists Should be Helping Scientists Think About Race
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Date
2021
Authors
Russell, Camisha
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Journal of Bioethical Inquiry
Abstract
In this essay, I argue that bioethicists have a thus-far unfulfilled role to play in helping life scientists, including medical doctors and researchers, think about race. I begin with descriptions of how life scientists tend to think about race and descriptions of typical approaches to bioethics. I then describe three different approaches to race: biological race, race as social construction, and race as cultural driver of history. Taking into account the historical and contemporary interplay of these three approaches, I suggest an alternative framework for thinking about race focused on how the idea of race functions socially. Finally, using assisted reproductive technologies as an example, I discuss how bioethicists and scientists might work together using this framework to improve not only their own but broader perspectives on race.
Description
3 pages.
Keywords
race, bioethics, assisted reproductive technology
Citation
Russell, Camisha. “Bioethicists Should Be Helping Scientists Think About Race.” Journal of Bioethical Inquiry 18 (2021): 109 - 111.