It’s no secret that Puerto Ricans are a beautiful people, but are they perfect? The answer is “yes,” and there’s science to prove it. Well, sort of. It’s been 10 years since Computational Biologist and University of California, Berkeley Professor Lior Pachter wrote his now-famous blog post titled “The Perfect Human is Puerto Rican.” In it, he says he “constructed” a perfect human by selecting the most beneficial genetic variations and determining where this idealized individual might originate. To Pachter’s delight, the result pointed to a Puerto Rican woman. So today we celebrate the 10-year-anniversary of Pachter’s declaration: Puerto Rican’s have perfect DNA. But is it true?
Puerto Ricans Have ‘Perfect DNA’
Pachter sparked both intrigue and controversy with his blog entry suggesting that Puerto Ricans have “perfect DNA.”
“According to the analysis, this mix of Spanish African and Caribbean genes in Native Puerto Ricans is responsible for producing near-perfect human specimens like Jennifer Lopez and Ricky Martin,” DISH Nation explained 10 years ago, when his study was first released.
However, what DISH Nation and others may not have realized at the time is that Pachter’s conclusion was never meant to be taken literally. The analysis was, in fact, a tongue-in-cheek critique aimed at debunking misguided notions of racial superiority, particularly those perpetuated by figures like Nobel Prize Winner Biologist James Watson.
An Absurd ‘Thought Experiment’
Pachter’s analysis emerged as a response to the disappointing news that Watson, co-discoverer of the DNA double helix, decided to sell his Nobel Prize medal. Watson’s controversial views on race and intelligence have long overshadowed his scientific achievements. Pachter, disturbed by Watson’s positions, used his private blog to voice his concerns. But rather than directly attacking Watson’s views, Pachter took a more creative approach: a “thought experiment” using human genome data.
Drawing on data from SNPedia, a resource that catalogs genetic mutations, Pachter analyzed the various mutations recorded in the 1000Genomes project. His goal was to identify the individual with the most beneficial genetic variants (or “good” alleles) and the fewest harmful ones. This hypothetical “perfect human” would possess the ideal combination of DNA, according to this arbitrary standard.
To Pachter’s amusement, the individual who came closest to this constructed ideal was a Puerto Rican woman.
“The nearest neighbor to the ‘perfect human’ is HG00737, a female who is… Puerto Rican,” Pachter wrote in his blog post, “The perfect human is Puerto Rican. “One might imagine that such a person already existed, maybe Yuiza, the only female Taino Cacique (chief) in Puerto Rico’s history.”
Pachter was well aware of the absurdity of his “experiment,” and his blog post was laced with sarcasm. He intentionally highlighted the Puerto Rican result to mock the very idea that one ethnicity could be deemed genetically superior to another.
Response to ‘Perfect DNA’
Pachter expressed relief that the “perfect human” did not turn out to be of Irish or Scottish descent, as he feared such a finding could fuel racist ideologies. His post was a deliberate satire, ridiculing the notion that genetic data could or should be used to rank human beings.
“Pachter’s declaration that the ‘perfect human is Puerto Rican’ was met with a mix of amusement, skepticism, and outrage,” the Coqui Report explains.
The declaration was also met with art, most notably, in the form of poetry. Spoken Poet Noel Quiñones performance of his’ poem “Perfection,” which was inspired by Pachter’s findings, even went viral. It’s like Puerto Rican poetry is perfect too.
Perfect Puerto Rican Poetry
In his poem, a staple on social media for over 10 years, Quiñones’ responds to the researcher’s findings, on behalf of the Puerto Rican community:
The scientists say the closest living
ethnicity to the perfect human being is
Puerto Rican.
Pues, mi papi says, “Don’t tell me
something I already know,”
Y mi mami
with one hand says, “No me diga,”
with the other, calls los tios y las tias …
and we screamed “Wepa!”
His performance has been shared thousands of times across YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram. It leads many to believe that Professor Pachter’s findings were facts, that the perfect human is in fact Puerto Rican. Then again, if you know a Puerto Rican, you might just agree that the thousands of believers are not far off.
