Early models of human race evoked simplistic renderings of evolutionary theory to argue for the inherent superiority of specific (usually European) populations. Today, debates about the biological bases and causes of human diversity play out primarily within public health and medicine, which grapple with explaining the relative importance of genetic and environmental contributions to health disparities. Environment-driven developmental plasticity and epigenetic change help explain why phenotypes map onto the gradients of environmental stress and opportunity that societies organize around categories such as race or class. I and my students apply principles of developmental plasticity and epigenetics to help update our understandings of the origins of modern human biological diversity and related health disparities. Current and former students address these themes in work in New Zealand, Alaska, South Africa and the United States. I also engage in interdisciplinary collaborations with historians of science or science and technology studies scholars to interrogate the early history of the race concept and what lessons we may glean for current developments in fields like epigenetics and the developmental origins of health and disease (DOHaD).
Figure: Meloni, Moll, Issaka and Kuzawa (2022) American Journal of Human Biology