Synopses & Reviews
New genetic technologies and their applications in biomedicine have important implications for social identities in contemporary societies. In medicine, new genetics is increasingly important for the identification of health and disease, the imputation of personal and familial risk, and the moral status of those identified as having genetic susceptibility for inherited conditions. There are also consequent transformations in national and ethnic collective identity, and the body and its investigation is potentially transformed by the possibilities of genetic investigations and modifications (including the highly controversial terrains of reproductive technologies and the use of human embryos in biomedical research).
The papers in this volume, drawn from an international array of authors, address these issues from a variety of national, disciplinary and empirical standpoints. An informative read for postgraduates and professionals in the fields of sociology, social anthropology, science and technology studies, and environmental studies, the chapters comprise empirically based and theoretically informed discussions of key sociological, anthropological, political and ethical issues.
Using the resources of a wide range of social science disciplines to provide a comparative approach to complex issues, this superb collection explores the local and global consequences of the new genetics, and analyzes the social implications of these advances for identity formation in a period of rapid social change.
Synopsis
What implications are applications of new genetic technologies in biomedicine having on social identity in today's society?
New Genetics, New Identities, a wide-ranging multi-disciplinary volume in the CESAGen Genetics & Society Book series, presents not only theoretical reflection but also empirical case studies drawn from an international array of authors. Including the highly controversial areas of reproductive technologies and use of human embryos in biomedical research, other key features include:
- a fresh analysis of a wide-range of social and political concerns in the development of new social identities
- examinations of the social implications of identity formation as a result from advances in genetic technologies from a number of perspectives both locally and globally
- resources of a wide range of social science disciplines to discuss significant sociological, anthropological, political and ethical issues.
This superb collection is an essential informative read for postgraduates and academics in the fields of sociology, anthropology and scientific technologies giving a comparative approach to complex issues surrounding the social implications of these advances in a period of rapid social change.