ABSTRACT
This chapter summarizes an emerging clinical genetics problem from recent blood studies that is now forcing scientific medicine to reconsider the practical or efficacious meaning of race when it comes to blood transfusions. It identifies individuals from ethnic and racial populations through the use of the new technologies of molecular genetics. The chapter discusses the interaction between racial or ethnic identity, nutritional intake, and biochemical manifestation of disease states, most notably, cancer and heart disease. There is thus the high potential for a feedback loop between social behavior and a biological condition manifested as higher rates of heart disease. The chapter suggests that a way to address, even resolve the confusing and contradictory messages about "race" from the biological sciences and their applied satellites. In May 1998, the American Anthropological Association issued its own statement on "race". It attempts to address the myths and misconceptions, and in so doing takes a "corrective" stance towards the folk beliefs about race.
