A policy of deliberate ignorance has corrupted top scientific institutions in the West
- The National Institutes of Health (NIH) withholds access to an important database if it thinks a scientist's research may wander into forbidden territory.
- Sometimes, NIH denies access to some of the attributes that I have just mentioned, on the grounds that studying their genetic basis is "stigmatizing."
- In some cases, NIH has retroactively withdrawn access for research it had previously approved.
Case in point: the National Institutes of Health now withholds access to an important database if it thinks a scientist's research may wander into forbidden territory.
NIH denies access to some of the attributes that I have just mentioned, on the grounds that studying their genetic basis is "Stigmatizing." Sometimes, it demands updates about ongoing research, with the implied threat that it could withdraw usage if it doesn't receive satisfactory answers.
In some cases, NIH has retroactively withdrawn access for research it had previously approved.
What is NIH's justification? Studies of intelligence do not pose any greater threat to the dignity of their participants than research based on non-genetic factors.
With the customary safeguards in place, research activities such as genetically predicting an individual's academic performance need be no more "Stigmatizing" than predicting academic performance based on an individual's family structure during childhood.
NIH's responsibility is to protect the safety and privacy of research participants, not to enforce a party line.
The federal government was under no obligation to assemble the magnificent database that is the dbGaP. Now that it has done so at taxpayer expense it does have an obligation to provide access to that database evenhandedly-not to allow it for some and deny it to others, based on the content of their research
https://www.city-journal.org/nih-blocks-access-to-genetics-database
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