Human variation, including questions about race, have been central to biological anthropology since its emergence as a professional discipline in the early 20th century. More recently, genomic data have been used to address open questions about the nature and scope of human variation. Results from genome-wide association studies and commercially available direct-to-consumer genetic ancestry tests have also kindled scholarly debate about the relationship between genetics/genomics and race. Such discussions among scholars and other stakeholders, illustrates that there are still many open issues about how genomic data influence the ways that people think about and debate race and racism. Genetic ancestry remains particularly contentious because of a complicated history of race within anthropology and other human sciences. In this article, I provide a broad overview on understandings of race given the new discoveries in genetics/genomics and provide examples of how these types of data continue to impact social and legal understandings of race. Ultimately, given that a primary focus of biological anthropology is to query human experience from a biological perspective, it will remain critical that biological anthropologists uphold the anti-racist tradition of modern anthropology and diligently work to shape narratives about human difference.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/ajpa.23979

Anthropological perspectives on genomic data, genetic ancestry, and race.

................................................................................................................................. iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ......................................................................................................... v CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................ 1 1.1 Research Context and Objectives ................................................................................. 1 1.2 Thesis Outline ................................................................................................................. 3 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW ................................................................................... 6 2.1 Background ..................................................................................................................... 6 2.1.1 Online genetic testing ............................................................................................... 6 2.1.2 Third-party interpretation sites ................................................................................. 7 2.1.3 “Regulatory hacking”................................................................................................ 8 2.1.4 Research partnerships ............................................................................................... 9 2.2 Quantitative literature ................................................................................................. 10 2.3 Qualitative literature.................................................................................................... 15 2.3.1 Clinical genetics users............................................................................................. 15 2.3.2 Online genetics users .............................................................................................. 18 2.4 Research questions ....................................................................................................... 26 CHAPTER 3: THEORETICAL AND METHODOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK ................ 28 3.1 Theoretical approach ................................................................................................... 28 3.1.1 Users matter ............................................................................................................ 28 3.1.2 Genetics as symbolic and social ............................................................................. 38 3.2 Methodological approach ............................................................................................ 44 3.2.1 Qualitative research ................................................................................................ 44 3.2.2 Data collection ........................................................................................................ 44 3.2.3 Data analysis ........................................................................................................... 46 CHAPTER 4: FINDINGS .......................................................................................................... 48 4.1 Motives .......................................................................................................................... 48 4.1.1 Curiosity and identity .............................................................................................. 48 4.1.2 Online versus clinical health practices .................................................................... 53 4.1.3 Power of data .......................................................................................................... 55 4.2 Interpretation ............................................................................................................... 60 4.2.1 Results ..................................................................................................................... 60

https://ruor.uottawa.ca/bitstream/10393/40175/3/Khan_Salwa_2020_thesis.pdf

Online Genetics for Health: An Empirical Investigation of How Users Matter

The essay argues that the Crakers—genetically modified human beings appearing in Margaret Atwood’s MaddAddam trilogy—should be seen not only as a result of techno-scientific brilliance but also as ...

Crake’s aesthetic: Genetically modified humans as a form of art in Margaret Atwood’s Oryx and Crake

This chapter discusses the diversity among many Native American tribes and the difficulty of generalizations. It describes, however, some common themes such as the history of displacement, cultural devaluation, ethnic segregation, and growing up in a reservation. It emphasizes the transgenerational effects the systematic taking over lands, extermination of tribal members, and the treatises that legalized the current status quo, including the Indian Health Service. There is a description of traditional practices such as swaddling, healing through natural remedies during pregnancy and early childhood, and resorting to “medicine men.” These practices coexist or supplement the medicalized modern system of provision of healthcare. Many tribes emphasize harmony with nature, respect for the individuality of children, and an approach to child-rearing that favors nonverbal interactions, implicit messages, storytelling, and teaching by example and observation. The problems in reservations such as poverty, segregation, alcoholism, and hopelessness are addressed, as well as the resilience of families who adapt family relationships and use kinship care to supplement the care of children who need it, extending the concept of family and a caregiving system. The communicational style may be different; avoiding eye contact, taking time to develop trust, and speaking in an oblique way about problems are described in contrast to the more businesslike approach that is commonly used in Westernized health systems. The effect of boarding schools and attempting to “acculturate” Native American children in previous generations is described as well as its transgenerational effects.

Margaret Lock

Papers

Genomics: Embodying Molecular Genomics