ABSTRACT
T hough all modern humans belong to the same species, Homo sapiens sapiens, and are all the result of the same physical evolutionary development, it is obvious to any observer that they differ from individual to individual. The physical differences are slight: Some groups have dark skin or hair, some have blue eyes and light hair, some have prominent cheekbones and almond-shaped eyes. All, however, are recognizably members of the group called “humans,” both in their physical appearance and especially in their genetic makeup. A group of population geneticists summarized the variation among humans at the level of their chromosomes in this way: With the exception of genes for surface traits such as skin coloration and height, all humans are remarkably alike. In fact, the variation from individual to individual is so much greater than the differences among groups that it makes no sense to speak of “races” at the genetic level. “What the eye sees as racial differences-between Europeans and Africans, for example-are mainly adaptations to climate as humans moved from one continent to another” (Subramanian, 1995, 54). Anthropologists who use genetics
in their research also support this finding, noting that external differences are genetically inconsequential. They are small variations that evolved in response to the environment. For instance, the fair skin of northern Europeans, a result of a change in just one gene, may have developed to better absorb sunlight in areas where it was rare, and to synthesize vitamin D (Shute, 2001, 40).
