Genetic Data From Over 20,000 U.S. Children Misused for ‘Race Science’

2026/01/26 Leave a comment

Sigh…:

Genetic researchers were seeking children for an ambitious, federally funded project to track brain development — a study that they told families could yield invaluable discoveries about DNA’s impact on behavior and disease.

They also promised that the children’s sensitive data would be closely guarded in the decade-long study, which got underway in 2015. Promotional materials included a cartoon of a Black child saying it felt good knowing that “scientists are taking steps to keep my information safe.”

The scientists did not keep it safe.

A group of fringe researchers thwarted safeguards at the National Institutes of Health and gained access to data from thousands of children. The researchers have used it to produce at least 16 papers purporting to find biological evidence for differences in intelligence between races, ranking ethnicities by I.Q. scores and suggesting Black people earn less because they are not very smart.

Mainstream geneticists have rejected their work as biased and unscientific. Yet by relying on genetic and other personal data from the prominent project, known as the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study, the researchers gave their theories an air of analytical rigor.

earch group were ineligible to obtain data from the ABCD project. But one of them gained access through an American professor who was already being investigated by the N.I.H. over his handling of another child brain study.

Their papers have provided fodder for racist posts on social media and white nationalist message boards that have been viewed millions of times. Some of the papers are cited by A.I. bots like ChatGPT and Grok in response to queries about race and intelligence. On the social media platform X, Grok has referred users to the research more than two dozen times this month alone.

“It’s evil,” said Dr. Terry L. Jernigan, national co-director of the ABCD Study and a neuropsychologist at the University of California, San Diego. “It’s not just that the science is faulty, but it’s being used to advance an unethical agenda.”…

    Source: Genetic Data From Over 20,000 U.S. Children Misused for ‘Race Science’

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    Trump Administration Scraps Research Into Health Disparities

    2025/08/15 Leave a comment

    Another example of wilful ignorance:

    The federal government has for decades invested vigorously in research aimed at narrowing the health gaps between racial and socioeconomic groups, pouring billions of dollars into understanding why minority and low-income Americans have shorter lives and suffer higher rates of illnesses like cancer and heart disease.

    Spending on so-called health disparities rose even during the Trump administration’s first term. But in its second, much of the funding has come to a sudden halt.

    Following a series of executive orders prohibiting diversity, equity and inclusion policies at every level of the federal government, the National Institutes of Health this year began terminating initiatives that officials said smacked of identity politics and offered dubious benefits.

    “Spending billions on divisive, politically driven D.E.I. initiatives that don’t deliver results is not just bad health policy — it’s bad government,” said a spokeswoman for the Department of Health and Human Services.

    The N.I.H will invest in projects that support “all vulnerable populations,” and expand participation “based on clinical need — not identity,” she added. She declined to be identified.

    In letters from the N.I.H., scientists were told that their projects were canceled because they “harm the health of Americans,” “provide a low return on investment,” or “do not enhance health, lengthen life, or reduce illness.”

    “The communication is very clear: We do not value health equity, we do not value a focus on underserved and under-treated populations, we do not consider these to be a priority,” said Dr. Kemi Doll, a cancer specialist at the University of Washington School of Medicine, who coaches younger researchers from minority backgrounds.

    In interviews, many scientists whose work depends on N.I.H. grants described the terminations as harrowing and bewildering. Many felt their research was not evaluated on its merits, but nixed because words like “race” or “gender” were in the project’s title or description.

    According to an analysis of federal data by The New York Times, as of mid-June the N.I.H. had terminated at least 616 projects focused on closing the health divide between Black and white, and rich and poor, Americans….

    Source: Trump Administration Scraps Research Into Health Disparities

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