Human Genome Sequence and The Science of Diversity

Join Fazale “Fuz” Rana and Jeff Zweerink as they discuss new discoveries taking place at the frontiers of science that have theological and philosophical implications, as well as new discoveries that point to the reality of God’s existence.

The year 2000 marked one of the most significant scientific accomplishments of all time: a “working draft” of the human genome sequence. Yet, at that time, about 8 percent of the human genome remained unsequenced. These unsequenced regions consist of highly repetitive sequences. Recently, the Telomere-to-Telomere (T2T) Consortium made use of advances in DNA sequencing technology to sequence most of the remaining 8 percent of the human genome. What does this advance mean for the RTB creation model?

Some scientists are embarking on a massive project to collect racial, ethnic, and gender information from scientists submitting papers to journals, the peer reviewers of the papers, and the editors of the journals. This data can be of great value in investigating biases in scientific publishing, but without careful thought it can run afoul of the scientific process at the same time. Can scientists investigate bias in publishing without collecting data that might jeopardize the safety of certain groups? Can we pursue efforts to discourage discrimination without allowing explanations that might offend some people?

In this episode Fuz and Jeff discuss these important topics.

Links and Resources:

• The Complete Sequence of a Human GenomeThe Science of Diversity
• A Post-Genomic Era: Ludicrous with an Incomplete Human Genome
• The Giant Plan to Track Diversity in Research Journals