The 1970s investigations into the XYY anomaly and its putative connections to criminal propensities provide us with an object lesson in the habitual distortion of both genetic theory and research methods that serve to enshrine a longstanding bias that characterizes black men as inherently criminal. In Roelcke, Volker; Maio, Giovanni (eds.), Twentieth century ethics of human subjects research: historical perspectives on values, practices, and regulations. Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag, 2004.