种族之间是否有遗传上的差别，或地球上的种族之间的性状的不同是否有DNA作为基础？
这个问题虽然比较敏感，但是，许多遗传学家和医生还是认为种族之间的差别是存在遗传基础的。
首先，医生们早就发现，不同种族对药物出现不同的反应，这不是什么秘密。去年，FDA就批准了一款专门针对黑人的药物（并非说这个药物对其他种族没有用，只是研究发现，对黑人的效果比较更好）。

如果说不同种族在DNA序列上的差别不是那么清楚的话，最新的研究发现，亚洲人（中国北京地区的人和日本东京地区的人）的基因表达，竟然有20％的基因和欧洲白人的基因表达存在统计意义上的差别。研究了4000个基因的表达，有1000个基因在亚洲人和欧洲白人之间存在表达量的显著差别。
比如有个叫UGT2B17的基因，白人的平均表达量是中国人和日本人的27倍！
他们发现了有35个基因，在种族之间的表达量差别超过2倍。

他们还发现，从los angeles的亚裔和从北京来的样品，基本没有差别。说明，这些基因表达量的差别和环境无关，基本是遗传因素造成。

DNA顺序的改变可以改变形状，DNA表达量的多少对生物形状也有非常重大的影响。

Letter

Published online: 7 January 2007;

Common genetic variants account for differences in gene expression among ethnic groups

Richard S Spielman1, Laurel A Bastone2, Joshua T Burdick3, Michael Morley3, Warren J Ewens4 & Vivian G Cheung1, 3, 5

Variation in DNA sequence contributes to individual differences in quantitative traits, but in humans the specific sequence variants are known for very few traits. We characterized variation in gene expression in cells from individuals belonging to three major population groups. This quantitative phenotype differs significantly between European-derived and Asian-derived populations for 1,097 of 4,197 genes tested. For the phenotypes with the strongest evidence of cis determinants, most of the variation is due to allele frequency differences at cis-linked regulators. The results show that specific genetic variation among populations contributes appreciably to differences in gene expression phenotypes. Populations differ in prxxxxence of many complex genetic diseases, such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease. As some of these are probably influenced by the level of gene expression, our results suggest that allele frequency differences at regulatory polymorphisms also account for some population differences in prxxxxence of complex diseases.