Abstract: The use of human diversity classifications such as race, ethnicity, ancestry, or migration background entails a range of scientific as well as social consequences, and careful application of such terms is therefore vital. In this article, we present results from a systematic literature review and subsequent quantitative content analysis of 546 life science papers from German research institutes. We are concerned specifically with racial, ethnic, migration- and ancestry-related classifications used in such papers. Our aim is to capture a snapshot of the classification practices currently applied to the categorization of humans across various disciplines and fields in a specific national context that remains under-researched. The review (a) substantiates results from earlier studies that point to heterogeneity, inconsistency, and vagueness of human classifications used in the life sciences, and (b) confirms the expected specificity of German scientific discourse, where the term "race" is used comparatively rarely. Our findings stress the need for German researchers to partake in the ongoing international debate on the practice of human classification in the life sciences to advance the international and interdisciplinary transferability of scientific results and, first and foremost, to avoid unintended effects such as overgeneralization, racialization, and stigmatization

Abstract: Background: Early in the COVID-19 pandemic, it became apparent that members of marginalized populations and immigrants were also at risk of being hospitalized and dying more frequently from COVID-19. To examine how the pandemic affected underserved and marginalized populations, we analyzed data on changes in the number of deaths among people with and without Swiss citizenship during the first and second SARS-CoV-2 waves. Method: We analyzed the annual number of deaths from the Swiss Federal Statistical Office from 2015 to 2020, and weekly data from January 2020 to May 2021 on deaths of permanent residents with and without Swiss citizenship, and we differentiated the data through subdivision into age groups. Results: People without Swiss citizenship show a higher increase in the number of deaths in 2020 than those who were Swiss citizens. The increase in deaths compared to the previous year was almost twice as high for people without Swiss citizenship (21.8%) as for those with it (11.4%). The breakdown by age group indicates that among people between the ages of 64 and 75, those without Swiss citizenship exhibited an increase in mortality (21.6%) that was four times higher than that for people with Swiss citizenship (4.7%). Conclusion: This study confirms that a highly specialized health care system, as is found in Switzerland, does not sufficiently guarantee that all parts of the population will be equally protected in a health crisis such as COVID-19