Lynn Jorde and Stephen Wooding are human geneticists whose collaborative work has examined genetic variation across human populations and its implications for understanding race, ancestry, and disease. Their research engages philosophical debates about biological classification by bringing empirical population genetics to bear on contested concepts of human difference. They are particularly known for contributions to the scientific literature on what genetic data can and cannot support regarding traditional racial categories.
Co-authored influential analysis of genetic variation and the concept of race in Nature Genetics (2004)
Argued that genetic clustering studies reveal population structure without vindicating traditional racial typologies
Demonstrated how association studies can illuminate the biological basis of conditions beyond mere correlation
Contributed to clarifying the relationship between self-identified ancestry and genomic data
Advanced methodological standards for interpreting population-level genetic findings