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→Genetic clustering and race: The more recent of the two source, (which is still too old for a WP:MEDRS) goes to great length to point out that race is extremely ambiguous. |
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== Genetic clustering and race ==
Clusters of individuals are often [[population structure (genetics)|geographically structured]]. For example, when clustering a population of East Asians and Europeans, each group will likely form its own respective cluster based on similar [[allele frequency|allele frequencies]]. In this way, clusters can have a correlation with traditional concepts of race and self-identified ancestry; in some cases, such as medical questionnaires, the latter variables can be used as a proxy for genetic ancestry where genetic data is unavailable.<ref name=":42" /><ref name=":102" /> However, genetic variation is distributed in a complex, continuous, and overlapping manner, so this correlation is imperfect and the use of [[Race and health|racial categories in medicine]] can introduce additional hazards.<ref name=":42" />
Some scholars{{who|date=August 2021}} have challenged the idea that race can be inferred by genetic clusters, drawing distinctions between arbitrarily assigned genetic clusters, ancestry, and race. One recurring caution against thinking of human populations in terms of clusters is the notion that genotypic variation and traits are distributed evenly between populations, along gradual [[Cline (biology)|clines]] rather than along discrete population boundaries; so although genetic similarities are usually organized geographically, their underlying populations have never been completely separated from one another. Due to migration, gene flow, and baseline homogeneity, features between groups are extensively overlapping and intermixed.<ref name=":32" /><ref name=":42" /> Moreover, genetic clusters do not typically match socially defined racial groups; many commonly understood races may not be sorted into the same genetic cluster, and many genetic clusters are made up of individuals who would have distinct racial identities.<ref name=":52" /> In general, clusters may most simply be understood as products of the methods used to sample and analyze genetic data; not without meaning for understanding ancestry and genetic characteristics, but inadequate to fully explaining the concept of race, which is more often described in terms of social and cultural forces.
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