Chapter 7 Human biodiversity today

Blood types

Sets of proteins that coat the red blood cells, which serve a variety of functions in the human body, including delivering oxygen to tissues and producing antibodies as an immune response.

Cormic index

Standing height divided by sitting height.

Forensic analysis

The identification and description of dead people.

An anthropologist who wanted to understand discrimination would likely be interested in which of the following?

a situation in which an upper-class man gets accepted at an Ivy League university because his father and grandfather went there

The experience of discrimination through the body can shed light on the way culture can contribute to the production of

biological variation

variation means that change is gradual across groups and that traits shade and blend into each other.

clinal variation

Saying race is not __________ is not enough because race has real consequences.

culturally constructed

The negative or unfair treatment of a person because of their membership in a particular social category is

discrimination

is a concept that refers to how people literally incorporate, biologically, the material and social worlds in which they live.

embodiment

A major problem with the approach to race that defines race as reproductively isolated breeding populations is that

every breeding population qualifies as a race

If you wanted to understand the embodied consequences of race, which of the following would you be most interested in?

everyday interactions

jim Crow laws in the U.S. South after the Civil War are a good illustration of overt __________.

explicit discrimination

Racism works through a combination of how people are treated, which we understand as discrimination, and

expressions of prejudice

Forensic scientists can identify the race of an individual's skull with 100% accuracy

false

Scientific and medical authorities no longer try to biologize racial difference.

false

The Human Genome Project has shown that, as is true among other large-bodied mammals, most human genetic variation exists between populations.

false

Unequal health outcomes between blacks and whites are not the result of how blacks have been racialized.

false

What is the typical pattern of genetic variation for most mammals?

genetic variation

Anthropometry measures

he measurement of body size, weight and proportions

Anthropology's understanding of skin pigmentation emphasizes that

it is an adaptive response to ultraviolet light

Why is genetic testing a part of conversations about reparations in the Caribbean?

it might be useful in determining who qualifies for reparations

All biological approaches to race are problematic because

one trait tends to be representative of other characteristics like intelligence and personal character

The significance of Ashley Montagu's writings about race was his observation that

only uncivilized people believe in myths

Negative or unfair treatment because of his or her group membership or identity is

prejudice

Which of the following is not an example of the ways humans vary biologically?

race

is a concept that organizes people into groups based on specific physical traits that are thought to reflect fundamental and innate differences.

race

________ is a potent forces in making race an objective reality.

racism

Which of the following groups of people were instrumental in the development of categorizing humans into distinct races?

scientists

Understanding biological variation means we must understand the role of

social relationships and cultural attitudes that affect health outcomes

If you wanted to better understand and explain genetic variation between, and not within, human populations today, you would

study the findings of the Human Genome Project

The perception of "color" in skin can be better understood by looking at

the concentration of UV radiation according to geography

The reality of race exists through marginalization, exploitation and stigma, as well as

the extent of privilege that some groups have

Despite being rooted in a cultural process, discrimination also has a measurably negative impact on

the individual body

Variations in skin pigmentation can be traced to

the latitude where one's ancestors spent the most time

The social processes that make race part of the natural order of things—by producing theories, schemes, and typologies about human differences is

the naturalization of race

A good illustration of the naturalization of race is

the processes involved in approving BiDil for use among African Americans

How do contemporary variations in body size and mass compare with the variability among early hominins?

there is less variation now in both sexual dimorphism and size and mass

Ashley Montagu would disagree with any scientific concept of race.

true

Genetically speaking, humans are a remarkably homogeneous species: there is far greater variation within human groups than there is between them.

true

Patterns of social inequality and racial discrimination have important biological consequences for certain groups, such as African Americans.

true

Race can become biology, by shaping people's biological outcomes due to disparities in access to certain kinds of healthcare and diets, exposure to certain kinds of diseases, and other factors that can make people either sick or healthy.

true

The way in which most people incorporate the social and material aspects of their lives into biological experiences and outcomes is known as embodiment.

true

Almost all human biological ____ exists within populations, not between them.

variation

Anthropological analysis of the Culí population in Costa Rica demonstrates what about genetic variation?

whiteness is created through social processes that naturalize race

Does race have biological consequences?

yes, because of racism

Health inequalities are the result of race, not __________by race.

...

Most people believe that biological and genetic differences are __________.

...

All humans share ____% of the same genes and 99.9% of their variations.

100

Melanin

A complex polymer that is the main pigment in human skin, occurring in two colors, black and brown.

Embodiment

A concept that refers to how people literally incorporate, biologically, the material and social worlds in which they live, from conception to death.

Scientific Concept of Race

A population or group of populations within a species that has measurable, defining biological characteristics and low statistical measures of similarity.

Subspecies

A population that meets the criteria defined within the scientific concept of race.

Human Leukocyte Antigen System (HLA)

A series of proteins on the surface of white blood cells that recognize foreign particles or infectious agents.

Culturally-constructed concept of race

A set of cultural or ethnic factors combined with easily perceived morphological traits (e.g., skin reflectance, body shape, cranial structure) in an artificial "biologized" category.

Race

A system that organizes people into hierarchical groups based on specific physical traits that are thought to reflect fundamental and innate differences that are rooted in genetic and biological differences.

Clinal

A type of variation in which change is gradual across groups and the traits shade and blend into each other.

Human Genome Project

An international scientific research project between 1990 and 2003 whose goal was to identify all the genetic material in humans.

What is the cause of clinial variations?

Hx movement. intermingling between populations, & gene flow

Naturalized

Made part of the natural order of things through the production of scientific theories, schemes, and typologies.

What other disease do people with sickle cell disease rarely contract?

Malaria

What basic assumption do anthropologists question in the debate over Senator Elizabeth Warren's claims to Native American ancestry.

Native American ancestry can b e ascertained through genetic testing

Discrimination

Negative or unfair treatment of a person because of his or her group membership or identity.

Anthropometry

The measurement of body parameters that assess physical variation and the relative contributions of particular body parts to overall body shape.

Intermembral index

The ratio of arm length to leg length.

Racism

The repressive practices, structures, beliefs, and representations that uphold racial categories and social inequality.

Human biodiversity

The similarities and differences within and across human groups that have biological dimensions.

Eugenics

The study of genetics with the notion of improving human biology and biological potential; often associated with simplistic, erroneous assumptions about the relationship of behavior or cultural traits with simple genetic systems.