Survey finds persistent misconceptions about race and ancestry among early-career genomics researchers

The appropriate use of population descriptors — terms such as race, ethnicity, and ancestry — in human genomics research has been the subject of sustained methodological and ethical debate. In 2023, the United States National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) published landmark recommendations calling for greater precision, context-sensitivity, and transparency in the use of such descriptors.

A preprint posted to bioRxiv describes a mixed-methods survey of early-career researchers, conducted by a trainee-led team, to assess how the NASEM recommendations are being understood and implemented in practice. The results suggest that researchers who had been exposed to the report demonstrated heightened ethical awareness, but that fundamental misconceptions about race and ancestry persisted across academic disciplines and career stages. The survey also identified a gap between researchers' stated intentions and the descriptors they applied in their computational workflows.

The findings are relevant to training programmes, journal editorial standards, and institutional research governance. Population descriptors affect the interpretation and generalisability of genome-wide association studies, polygenic risk score research, and clinical genomics data, making this a methodological concern with downstream implications for how research is communicated and applied. As a preprint, the work has not yet undergone peer review.