Skip Navigation
Science @beehaw.org
alyaza [they/she] @beehaw.org

Eugenics is on the rise again: human geneticists must take a stand

www.nature.com /articles/d41586-025-01297-4

In 1924, motivated by the rising eugenics movement, the United States passed the Johnson–Reed Act, which limited immigration to stem “a stream of alien blood, with all its inherited misconceptions”. A century later, at a campaign event last October, now US President Donald Trump used similar eugenic language to justify his proposed immigration policies, stating that “we got a lot of bad genes in our country right now”.

If left unchallenged, a rising wave of white nationalism in many parts of the globe could threaten the progress that has been made in science — and broader society — towards a more equitable world1.

As scientists and members of the public, we must push back against this threat — by modifying approaches to genetics education, advocating for science, establishing and leading diverse research teams and ensuring that studies embrace and build on the insights obtained about human variation.

3 comments

  • Since I found out I have autism I was reading a lot on how autisms develop and have very mixed feelings about how both sides approach this.

    Currently the main accepted theory of human origin is that Homo sapiens left Africa and replaced other ancient human species. This is very at odds with evidence of Neanderthal and Denisovan ancient human DNA being present in modern humans and being highly correlated with autoimmune diseases as well as neurodevelopmental „disorders” or neurodivergence. There are environmental factors too but one doesn’t really exist without another. Like premature birth and asphyxiation are still correlated back to genetics of Marfan, EDS and other connective tissue disorders.

    Neanderthal DNA is more common in European/Asian populations while Denisovian DNA is more common in Philippines and Australian aboriginals. We know that aboriginal belief system is entirely alien compared to other human cultures and must have diverged a very long time ago too.

    Pretending all humans are the same seems to be done out of concern for the consequences it might lead to rather than out of concern for truth. I kinda get it, Nazis started with us and then followed with killing every population correlated to neurodivergence (LGBT, Jews, Slavic people, Roma) so it’s pretty scary.

    I don’t think hiding is the answer though and what’s happening should be challenged head-on. We’re different but we can coexist.