Eugenics researchers believed that by studying large human families in which a certain undesirable trait appeared, they could demonstrate a genetic pattern of inheritance for the trait, and such findings would justify policies aimed at removing the related genes from the population.

When did eugenics become a science?

During the early 1900s eugenics became a serious scientific study pursued by both biologists and social scientists. They sought to determine the extent to which human characteristics of social importance were inherited.

How does eugenics relate to biology?

Eugenics can be defined as the application of the principles of genetics and inheritance to the improvement of the human race, in order to secure, by analogy with the selective breedings applied from immemorial time to plants and domestic animals, a desirable combination of physical characteristics and mental traits in ...