Race-Based Medicine: An Introduction In a society where you can get on a plane and fly around the world in a day, chances are everyone has met someone who looks different from them, whether it's skin color or other physical characteristics. Some people obviously look more alike than others and this is where skin color has been used as a tool to differentiate people from different parts of the world. However, in the past this has led to many horrible racist situations that have led to slavery and genocides around the world. Race in relation to human beings can be defined as “a family, tribe, people, or nation of the same stock” or “a class or type of people unified by shared interests, habits, or characteristics” or even “a category of mankind who shares some distinctive physical traits” (Merriam Webster Online). With all these different definitions of race it's easy to see how problems arise because of it. So what is race-based medicine? Race-based medicine is “the practice of using race or ethnicity as a defining characteristic of populations or individuals seeking health” (Cohn 552). This practice can be observed in the clinic, especially with some diseases such as sickle cell anemia which is more widespread in black populations, cystic fibrosis which is increasingly common in people of Northern European origin and finally Tay-Sachs disease which is highly associated to Ashkenazi. Jewish populations (Collier 752). As with many topics, there are people who have taken positions on both sides of the race-based medicine debate. There are those scientists who are on the side that “understanding the unique patterns of genes in racially defined patient populations will help identify the population… half of paper……ll 2006, p 497-499. Cohn, Jay N., The Use of Race and Ethnicity in Medicine: Lessons from the African-American Heart Failure Study, J.L. Med. & Ethics, Race and Ethnicity, Fall 2006, p 552-554. Collier Roger, A race-based shift toward personalized medicine, CMAJ. April 17, 2012 vol. 184 n. 7, p E351–E353.Collier Roger, Race and Genetics in the Doctor's Office, CMAJ. April 17, 2012 vol. 184 n. 7, p 752-753.Fine, Michael J., Ibrahim, Said A., Thomas, Stephen B., The Role of Race and Genetics in Health Disparities Research, American Journal of Public Health, December 2005, vol. 95, no. 12, p 2125-2128."Race." Merriam-Webster.com. Merriam-Webster and Web. May 4, 2014. .Roberts DE. What's wrong with race-based medicine?: Genes, drugs, and health disparities. Minnesota Journal of Law, Science & Technology. 2011;12(1):1-21.