mSphere of Influence: That’s Racist—COVID-19, Biological Determinism, and the Limits of Hypotheses

Abstract

ABSTRACT Kishana Taylor works in the field of virology. In this mSphere of Influence article, she reflects on the personal impact of “Racial health disparities and COVID-19 – caution and context” by Merlin Chowkwanyun and Adolph L. Reed, Jr. (N Engl J Med 383:201–203, 2020, https://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMp2012910) and “A hypothesis is a liability” by Itai Yanai and Martin Lercher (Genome Biol 21:231, 2020, https://doi.org/10.1186/s13059-020-02133-w) and how it became part of the mission for Black In Microbiology Week.

Keywords

• Black In Microbiology
• COVID-19
• SARS-CoV-2
• health disparities