Sérgio Pena (geneticist)

Sérgio Danilo Junho Pena (born 17 October 1947 in Belo Horizonte, Brazil)[1][2] is a Brazilian human geneticist and professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Immunology at the Federal University of Minas Gerais in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. He began researching the population genetics of the Brazilian population in the late 1980s. His research on this subject has highlighted the ways that physical characteristics of Brazilians are often discordant with their genetic ancestry.[3] On the basis of his research showing extensive genetic diversity in the Brazilian population, he has vocally advocated for the view that race is a social construct rather than a biological reality.[4][5][6][7] For instance, he received significant media coverage when he led a research team which analyzed the genetic profiles of nine prominent black Brazilian celebrities in May 2007 for a project organized by BBC Brasil. The results showed that one of these celebrities, Neguinho da Beija-Flor, had predominantly (67%) European ancestry despite identifying as black.[6][8][9] He was described as "one of Brazil’s best-known and most media-savvy geneticists" in a 2015 academic journal article.[10]

Sérgio Danilo Junho Pena
Born (1947-10-17) 17 October 1947
Belo Horizonte, Brazil
EducationFaculdade de Medicina da Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais
University of Manitoba
SpouseBetânia Pena
ChildrenOne son, four grandchildren
AwardsNational Order of Scientific Merit (2006)
Scientific career
FieldsHuman genetics
Medical genetics
InstitutionsFederal University of Minas Gerais
ThesisDouble labeling: a new investigative technique in biochemical genetics (1977)
Academic advisorsKlaus Wrogemann

Biography

Born in Belo Horizonte, Pena graduated from the Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais in 1970. He became a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Canada in 1975 and received his Ph.D. from the University of Manitoba in 1977. He is a member of the Brazilian Academy of Sciences. Pena received the Great-Cross of the National Order of Scientific Merit in 2006. He received the Prize in Medical Sciences from the World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) in 2007 and was elected to the World Academy of Sciences in 2008. He is a past president of the Brazilian Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and a member of the Human Genome Organisation's council.[11]

References
  1. Beighton, Peter; Beighton, Greta (6 December 2012). The Man Behind the Syndrome. Springer Science & Business Media. p. 222. ISBN 978-1-4471-1415-4.
  2. "Conheça o colunista". Ciência Hoje (in Brazilian Portuguese). 2 October 2006. Retrieved 27 December 2021.
  3. Zorzetto, Ricardo; Fioravanti, Carlos (2021). "Sérgio Pena: Under the skin". Revista Pesquisa Fapesp. Retrieved 27 December 2021.
  4. Kingsley, Danny (17 December 2002). "Race is an illusion, say researchers". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 27 December 2021.
  5. Kent, Michael; Wade, Peter (December 2015). "Genetics against race: Science, politics and affirmative action in Brazil". Social Studies of Science. 45 (6): 816–838. doi:10.1177/0306312715610217. ISSN 0306-3127. PMC 4702207. PMID 27479998. Pena has emerged as a public scientist and intellectual who, in popular as well as academic publications, addresses issues of social policy and national identity from the perspective of genetics. He emphasizes the high levels of genetic diversity in Brazil and sees this as good evidence for the nonexistence of race as a biological reality.
  6. Rodríguez Mega, Emiliano (13 December 2021). "How the mixed-race mestizo myth warped science in Latin America". Nature. 600 (7889): 374–378. doi:10.1038/d41586-021-03622-z. S2CID 245188744.
  7. "People Are Same, but Different". Los Angeles Times. 20 December 2002. Retrieved 27 December 2021.
  8. Kent, Michael; Santos, Ricardo Ventura; Wade, Peter (December 2014). "Negotiating Imagined Genetic Communities: Unity and Diversity in Brazilian Science and Society: Negotiating Imagined Genetic Communities". American Anthropologist. 116 (4): 736–748. doi:10.1111/aman.12142.
  9. "BBC delves into Brazilians' roots". BBC Brasil. 10 July 2007. Retrieved 27 December 2021.
  10. Kent, Michael; García-Deister, Vivette; López-Beltrán, Carlos; Santos, Ricardo Ventura; Schwartz-Marín, Ernesto; Wade, Peter (December 2015). "Building the genomic nation: 'Homo Brasilis' and the 'Genoma Mexicano' in comparative cultural perspective". Social Studies of Science. 45 (6): 839–861. doi:10.1177/0306312715611262. ISSN 0306-3127. PMC 4702209. PMID 27479999.
  11. "Pena, Sergio Danilo Junho". The World Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 27 December 2021.


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