When Science Goes Wrong: Kids' Data Used for Harmful Race Theories

The Promising Start

A big study started in 2015 with a noble goal. It aimed to track brain development in over 20,000 U.S. children. The project, called the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study (ABCD), promised to uncover important insights about DNA's role in behavior and disease.

Families were assured that their children's sensitive data would be well-protected. Promotional materials even featured a cartoon of a Black child expressing relief that scientists were taking steps to keep their information safe.

The Data Breach

Unfortunately, the data was not kept safe. A group of fringe researchers found a way to bypass the safeguards put in place by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). They gained access to the data and used it to produce at least 16 papers. These papers claimed to find biological evidence for differences in intelligence between races. They ranked ethnicities by IQ scores and suggested that Black people earn less because they are not very smart.

The Response

Mainstream geneticists have dismissed this work as biased and unscientific. However, by using data from a prominent project like ABCD, these researchers gave their theories a false sense of credibility.

Members of this research group were not supposed to have access to the ABCD data. But one of them managed to get it through an American professor who was already under investigation by the NIH for mishandling another child brain study.

The Harmful Impact

The impact of these papers has been harmful. They have fueled racist posts on social media and white nationalist message boards, reaching millions of views. Some of these papers are even cited by AI bots like ChatGPT and Grok in response to queries about race and intelligence. On the platform X, Grok has referred users to this research more than two dozen times this month alone.

The Bigger Picture

This incident raises serious questions about data security and the ethical use of genetic information. It also highlights the dangers of misinformation and how easily it can spread, especially when backed by seemingly credible data.