Take that, Mr. Diamond!

July 17, 2014 5. THE GENETICS OF RACE The single criterion that Diamond proposes as an alternative, genes that confer resistance to malaria, makes no evolutionary sense. Malaria became a significant human disease only very recently, some 6,000 years ago, and each race then independently developed resistance to it. Italians and Greeks resist malaria because of mutations that also cause the blood disease known as thalassemia, whereas Africans resist malaria through a different mutation that causes sickle-cell anemia. The trait of resisting malaria is one that has been acquired secondarily to race, so obviously it is not an appropriate way of classifying the populations. A scholar’s duty is to clarify, but Diamond’s argument seems designed to distract and confuse. All Excerpts From Wade, Nicholas. “A Troublesome Inheritance.” Penguin Group, USA, 2014-05-06. iBooks. This material may be protected by copyright.