Genetics and health disparities: fears and realities.

The development and testing of explanatory hypotheses about the underlying mechanisms that create health disparities among ethnic minorities will be crucial in identifying solutions for reducing the current differentials. This paper addresses the potential for using genetic information as a useful and necessary addition to approaches to measures of the "environment" in the study of the origins of health disparities. Approaches and theoretical perspectives on the integration of social science and genetic findings are discussed.