Many diseases have both genetic and environmental causes. Scientists often take traditional racial boundaries into account when researching why certain populations seem predisposed to certain diseases. But work on asthma at the University of California–San Francisco is going beyond current concepts of race to consider human genetic variation—how our species has diversified in the past 150,000 years—to hone in on inherited components that may play a role in disease prevalence.
For Educators
Classroom discussion activity for use with the video.