Journal article
Eugenics and the Genetics Society
- Abstract:
- Genetics and eugenics co-evolved at the beginning of the twentieth century and remained associated through the 1940s and beyond. Early geneticists were far from unanimous in their views on eugenics; some avidly supported the movement, whereas others openly opposed it or chose to remain detached. Academic institutions and scientific societies are currently reckoning with their past associations with eugenics. This article highlights historical connections between the UK Genetics Society and the eugenics movement in Britain. The complexity of these connections is illustrated through case studies of three notable Genetics Society past Presidents—J. B. S. Haldane, R. A. Fisher, and L. S. Penrose—who represent diverse ways that British geneticists engaged with the eugenics movement, from career-long support to science-based opposition. Their contributions to, and critiques of, eugenics are situated in their scientific and historical contexts. We reflect on the historical role of professional genetics organisations in facilitating the rise of eugenics in the early twentieth century, and the present responsibility of the same organisations to combat its contemporary revival.
- Publication status:
- Published
- Peer review status:
- Peer reviewed
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(Preview, Version of record, pdf, 740.0KB, Terms of use)
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- Publisher copy:
- 10.1038/s41437-026-00838-5
Authors
+ British Society for the History of Science
More from this funder
- Funder identifier:
- https://ror.org/04gfzba65
- Publisher:
- Springer Nature
- Journal:
- Heredity More from this journal
- Publication date:
- 2026-04-20
- Acceptance date:
- 2026-03-17
- DOI:
- EISSN:
-
1365-2540
- ISSN:
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0018-067X
- Language:
-
English
- Pubs id:
-
2409449
- Local pid:
-
pubs:2409449
- Deposit date:
-
2026-04-20
- ARK identifier:
Terms of use
- Copyright holder:
- Aylward et al.
- Copyright date:
- 2026
- Rights statement:
- ©The Author(s) 2026. Open Access. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder.
- Licence:
- CC Attribution (CC BY)
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