[1] Drawing upon his background in evolutionary biology and genetics, he has also written two books that address myths and theories of race in American society.
[7] In "Chance, Development, and Aging", Human Biology December 2001, Graves wrote that the explanation of individual patterns of aging must take into account subtle mechanisms such as extensive chance variations in cell number and connections, in cell fates during differentiation, and in physiological patterns that arise during development.
In addition to the study of aging, Graves is interested in the history and philosophy of science as it relates to the biology of race and racism in western society.
[8] He has received a fair amount of attention from the press for his writings on this topic, especially his strong statements about the socially constructed nature of race.
[9][10][11] According to his profile on the University of North Carolina Minority Health Project website, he believes: there are still significant academic and popular views of race that are mired in the biological determinism of the 19th century and the application of proper scientific method and philosophy, along with quantitative genetics reveals the underlying racist ideology of these programs.
[12]In addition to his research interests, Graves has also been an active participant in the struggle to protect and improve the teaching of science in the public schools.
[13] He advocates discussing human biological variation and race in high school and college science curricula.