Commercially available tests of genetic ancestry have significant scientific limitations, but are... more Commercially available tests of genetic ancestry have significant scientific limitations, but are serious matters for many test-takers. CREDIT: N. KEVITIYAGALA/SCIENCE At least two dozen companies now market “genetic ancestry tests ” to help consumers reconstruct their family histories and determine the geographic origins of their ancestors. More than 460,000 people have purchased these tests over the past 6 years (1), and public interest is still skyrocketing (1–4). Some scientists support this enterprise because it makes genetics accessible
Race and the Genetic Revolution: Science, Myth, and Culture}
abstract={In this article, I call for enlarging the conceptual terrain for viewing local biologic... more abstract={In this article, I call for enlarging the conceptual terrain for viewing local biological expressions of illness. To date, a specific DNA sequence pattern, called {\ textquotedblleft} the Senegalese sickle cell haplotype,{\ textquotedblright} has enjoyed extraordinary purchase on explanations for why Senegalese people may live with a {\ textquotedblleft} milder {\ textquotedblright} form of sickle cell anemia when compared with other African populations. I argue, however, that {\ textquotedblleft} mild sickle cell {\ textquotedblright} ...
Introduction / Troy Duster and Karen Garrett -- The social frame for biological knowledge / Troy ... more Introduction / Troy Duster and Karen Garrett -- The social frame for biological knowledge / Troy Duster -- Constructing genetic diseases / E.J. Yoxen -- Biological evolution and the emergence of a cultural being / Matthew Hallinan -- Women's reproductiverhythms / Karen A. Garrett -- Social aspects of menstruation / Karen Ericksen Paige -- Technological rhythms in pregnancy / Diane Beeson.
Nutrigenomics is the study of how constituents of the diet interact with genes, and their product... more Nutrigenomics is the study of how constituents of the diet interact with genes, and their products, to alter phenotype and, conversely, how genes and their products metabolise these constituents into nutrients, antinutrients, and bioactive compounds. Results from molecular and genetic epidemiological studies indicate that dietary unbalance can alter gene–nutrient interactions in ways that increase the risk of developing chronic disease. The interplay of human genetic variation and environmental factors will make identifying causative genes and nutrients a formidable, but not intractable, challenge. We provide specific recommendations for how to best meet this challenge and discuss the need for new methodologies and the use of comprehensive analyses of nutrient–genotype interactions involving large and diverse populations. The objective of the present paper is to stimulate discourse and collaboration among nutrigenomic researchers and stakeholders, a process that will lead to an incr...
New regulations on disclosure, authority, and responsibility would shape how genetic ancestry tes... more New regulations on disclosure, authority, and responsibility would shape how genetic ancestry tests are used.
The use of genetic information in the workplace poses societal risks that have an impact on emplo... more The use of genetic information in the workplace poses societal risks that have an impact on employment possibilities, health insurance, and privacy. Individuals who might otherwise believe they can benefit from genetic testing may decline it because of their fear of employment discrimination and lack of privacy in the workplace. As a consequence, the future of research on the benefits and risks of predictive genetic testing may also be compromised. Thus, policy-makers need to evaluate legislative and regulatory strategies to address these concerns. This paper analyzes state and federal legislative approaches to genetic information in the workplace and concludes with a discussion of policy considerations and recommendation.
Sociology faces three important interrelated challenges in the coming decades. The first will be ... more Sociology faces three important interrelated challenges in the coming decades. The first will be the increasing authority of reductionist science for which partial evidence is found in the strikingly imbalanced allocation of research funding for “causes” of wide-ranging problems—from disparities in health and educational achievement to explanations of alcoholism and violence. The second is the attendant expansion of databases on markers and processes “inside the body.” Directly but inversely related is the third challenge: new evidence that the release of already collected data sets is blocked and data collection on social and economic forces is reduced. These challenges can be confronted and addressed directly if sociologists emulate an earlier generation of sociological researchers and turn greater attention to an analysis of data collection at the site of reductionist knowledge production. This includes, for example, close scrutiny of new computer technologies assisting several D...
Policy Forum Also see the archival list of Science's Compass: Enhanced Perspectives MEDICINE:... more Policy Forum Also see the archival list of Science's Compass: Enhanced Perspectives MEDICINE: Enhanced: Race and Reification in Science Troy Duster[HN12]* Alfred North Whitehead warned many years ago about "the fallacy of misplaced concreteness" [HN1] (1), by which he meant the tendency to assume that categories of thought coincide with the obdurate character of the empirical world. If we think of a shoe as "really a shoe," then we are not likely to use it as a hammer (when no hammer is around). Whitehead's insight about misplaced concreteness is also known as the fallacy of reification [HN2]. Recent research in medicine and genetics makes it even more crucial to resist actively the temptation to deploy racial categories as if immutable in nature and society.
Commercially available tests of genetic ancestry have significant scientific limitations, but are... more Commercially available tests of genetic ancestry have significant scientific limitations, but are serious matters for many test-takers. CREDIT: N. KEVITIYAGALA/SCIENCE At least two dozen companies now market “genetic ancestry tests ” to help consumers reconstruct their family histories and determine the geographic origins of their ancestors. More than 460,000 people have purchased these tests over the past 6 years (1), and public interest is still skyrocketing (1–4). Some scientists support this enterprise because it makes genetics accessible
Race and the Genetic Revolution: Science, Myth, and Culture}
abstract={In this article, I call for enlarging the conceptual terrain for viewing local biologic... more abstract={In this article, I call for enlarging the conceptual terrain for viewing local biological expressions of illness. To date, a specific DNA sequence pattern, called {\ textquotedblleft} the Senegalese sickle cell haplotype,{\ textquotedblright} has enjoyed extraordinary purchase on explanations for why Senegalese people may live with a {\ textquotedblleft} milder {\ textquotedblright} form of sickle cell anemia when compared with other African populations. I argue, however, that {\ textquotedblleft} mild sickle cell {\ textquotedblright} ...
Introduction / Troy Duster and Karen Garrett -- The social frame for biological knowledge / Troy ... more Introduction / Troy Duster and Karen Garrett -- The social frame for biological knowledge / Troy Duster -- Constructing genetic diseases / E.J. Yoxen -- Biological evolution and the emergence of a cultural being / Matthew Hallinan -- Women's reproductiverhythms / Karen A. Garrett -- Social aspects of menstruation / Karen Ericksen Paige -- Technological rhythms in pregnancy / Diane Beeson.
Nutrigenomics is the study of how constituents of the diet interact with genes, and their product... more Nutrigenomics is the study of how constituents of the diet interact with genes, and their products, to alter phenotype and, conversely, how genes and their products metabolise these constituents into nutrients, antinutrients, and bioactive compounds. Results from molecular and genetic epidemiological studies indicate that dietary unbalance can alter gene–nutrient interactions in ways that increase the risk of developing chronic disease. The interplay of human genetic variation and environmental factors will make identifying causative genes and nutrients a formidable, but not intractable, challenge. We provide specific recommendations for how to best meet this challenge and discuss the need for new methodologies and the use of comprehensive analyses of nutrient–genotype interactions involving large and diverse populations. The objective of the present paper is to stimulate discourse and collaboration among nutrigenomic researchers and stakeholders, a process that will lead to an incr...
New regulations on disclosure, authority, and responsibility would shape how genetic ancestry tes... more New regulations on disclosure, authority, and responsibility would shape how genetic ancestry tests are used.
The use of genetic information in the workplace poses societal risks that have an impact on emplo... more The use of genetic information in the workplace poses societal risks that have an impact on employment possibilities, health insurance, and privacy. Individuals who might otherwise believe they can benefit from genetic testing may decline it because of their fear of employment discrimination and lack of privacy in the workplace. As a consequence, the future of research on the benefits and risks of predictive genetic testing may also be compromised. Thus, policy-makers need to evaluate legislative and regulatory strategies to address these concerns. This paper analyzes state and federal legislative approaches to genetic information in the workplace and concludes with a discussion of policy considerations and recommendation.
Sociology faces three important interrelated challenges in the coming decades. The first will be ... more Sociology faces three important interrelated challenges in the coming decades. The first will be the increasing authority of reductionist science for which partial evidence is found in the strikingly imbalanced allocation of research funding for “causes” of wide-ranging problems—from disparities in health and educational achievement to explanations of alcoholism and violence. The second is the attendant expansion of databases on markers and processes “inside the body.” Directly but inversely related is the third challenge: new evidence that the release of already collected data sets is blocked and data collection on social and economic forces is reduced. These challenges can be confronted and addressed directly if sociologists emulate an earlier generation of sociological researchers and turn greater attention to an analysis of data collection at the site of reductionist knowledge production. This includes, for example, close scrutiny of new computer technologies assisting several D...
Policy Forum Also see the archival list of Science's Compass: Enhanced Perspectives MEDICINE:... more Policy Forum Also see the archival list of Science's Compass: Enhanced Perspectives MEDICINE: Enhanced: Race and Reification in Science Troy Duster[HN12]* Alfred North Whitehead warned many years ago about "the fallacy of misplaced concreteness" [HN1] (1), by which he meant the tendency to assume that categories of thought coincide with the obdurate character of the empirical world. If we think of a shoe as "really a shoe," then we are not likely to use it as a hammer (when no hammer is around). Whitehead's insight about misplaced concreteness is also known as the fallacy of reification [HN2]. Recent research in medicine and genetics makes it even more crucial to resist actively the temptation to deploy racial categories as if immutable in nature and society.
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