MACMILLAN De-Sequencing: Identity Work with Genes (Health, Technology and Society)

Are you your genes? De-Sequencing: Identity Work with Genes explores this perplexing question, showing how different forms of knowledge must be contextualized to become meaningful. It is generally assumed that the genomic sequence adds up to the identity-forming material life is made of. Yet identity cannot itself adopt the form of a sequence. As the authors in this volume show, the genome must be ‘de-sequenced’ by human language to render it interpretable and meaningful in a social context. The book unpacks this type of ‘sequence-speech’ in engaging detail, adopting a personal, social, cultural, and bio-political approach to examine the transformation of human identity and reflexivity in the era of genetic citizenship. From the Back Cover Are you your genes?  De-Sequencing: Identity Work with Genes explores this perplexing question, showing how different forms of knowledge must be contextualized to become meaningful. It is generally assumed that the genomic sequence adds up to the identity-forming material life is made of. Yet identity cannot itself adopt the form of a sequence. As the authors in this volume show, the genome must be ‘de-sequenced’ by human language to render it interpretable and meaningful in a social context. The book unpacks this type of ‘sequence-speech’ in engaging detail, adopting a personal, social, cultural, and bio-political approach to examine the transformation of human identity and reflexivity in the era of genetic citizenship. About the Author Dr. Dana Mahr is senior researcher and lecturer at the University of Geneva, Switzerland. Her research centers on how we make sense out of science, technology, and medicine from a comparative and interdisciplinary perspective. Martina von Arx, M.A. is a PhD candidate at the University of Geneva, Switzerland. She explores how health professionals and patients experience digital technologies as part of the current developments of personalized health in Switzerland.