The Postgenomic Condition

The postgenomic condition: an introduction -- The information of life or the life of information? -- Inclusion: can genomics be antiracist? -- Who represents the human genome? What is the human genome? -- Genomics for the people or the rise of the machines? -- Genomics for the 98 percent? -- The genomic open 2.0: the public v. the public -- Life on Third: knowledge and justice after the genome -- Epilogue

In the summer of 1991, population geneticists and evolutionary biologists proposed to archive human genetic diversity by collecting the genomes of "isolated indigenous populations." Their initiative, which became known as the Human Genome Diversity Project, generated early enthusiasm from those who believed it would enable huge advances in our understanding of human evolution. However, vocal criticism soon emerged. Physical anthropologists accused Project organizers of reimporting racist categories into science. Indigenous-rights leaders saw a "Vampire Project" that sought the blood of indigenous people but not their well-being. More than a decade later, the effort is barely off the ground. How did an initiative whose leaders included some of biology's most respected, socially conscious scientists become so stigmatized? How did these model citizen-scientists come to be viewed as potential racists, even vampires? This book argues that the long abeyance of the Diversity Project points to larger, fundamental questions about how to understand knowledge, democracy, and racism in an age when expert claims about genomes increasingly shape the possibilities for being human. Jenny Reardon demonstrates that far from being innocent tools for fighting racism, scientific ideas and practices embed consequential social and political decisions about who can define race, racism, and democracy, and for what ends. She calls for the adoption of novel conceptual tools that do not oppose science and power, truth and racist ideologies, but rather draw into focus their mutual constitution.

Ten years after the Human Genome Project’s completion the life sciences stand in a moment of uncertainty, transition, and contestation. The postgenomic era has seen rapid shifts in research methodology, funding, scientific labor, and disciplinary structures. Postgenomics is transforming our understanding of disease and health, our environment, and the categories of race, class, and gender. At the same time, the gene retains its centrality and power in biological and popular discourse. The contributors to Postgenomics analyze these ruptures and continuities and place them in historical, social, and political context. Postgenomics, they argue, forces a rethinking of the genome itself, and opens new territory for conversations between the social sciences, humanities, and life sciences. Contributors. Russ Altman, Rachel A. Ankeny, Catherine Bliss, John Dupré, Michael Fortun, Evelyn Fox Keller, Sabina Leonelli, Adrian Mackenzie, Margot Moinester, Aaron Panofsky, Sarah S. Richardson, Sara Shostak, Hallam Stevens

Approved by the FDA in 2005 as the first drug with a race-specific indication on its label, BiDil was touted as a pathbreaking therapy to treat heart failure in black patients. Kahn reveals that, at the most basic level, BiDil became racial through legal maneuvering and commercial pressure as much as through medical understandings of how the drug worked. He examines the legal and calls for a more reasoned approach to using race in biomedical research and practice.

In this second edition of Post-Genomic Cardiology, developing and new technologies such as translational genomics, next generation sequencing (NGS), bioinformatics, and systems biology in molecular cardiology are assessed in light of their therapeutic potential. As new methods of mutation screening emerge, both for the genome and for the “epigenome,” comprehensive understanding of the many mutations that underlie cardiovascular diseases and adverse drug reactions is within our reach. This book, written by respected cardiologist José Marín-García, features discussion on the Hap-Map: the largest international effort to date aiming to define the differences between our individual genomes. This unique reference further reviews and investigates genome sequences from our evolutionary relatives that could help us decipher the signals of genes, and offers a comprehensive and critical evaluation of regulatory elements from the complicated network of the background DNA. Offers updated discussion of cutting-edge molecular techniques including new genomic sequencing / NGS / Hap-Map / bioinformatics / systems biology approaches Analyzes mitochondria dynamics and their role in cardiac dysfunction, up-to-date analysis of cardio-protection, and cardio-metabolic syndrome Presents recent translational studies, gene therapy, transplantation of stem cells, and pharmacological treatments in CVDs

Few concepts played a more important role in twentieth-century life sciences than that of the gene. Yet at this moment, the field of genetics is undergoing radical conceptual transformation, and some scientists are questioning the very usefulness of the concept of the gene, arguing instead for more systemic perspectives. The time could not be better, therefore, for Hans-Jörg Rheinberger and Staffan Müller-Wille's magisterial history of the concept of the gene. Though the gene has long been the central organizing theme of biology, both conceptually and as an object of study, Rheinberger and Müller-Wille conclude that we have never even had a universally accepted, stable definition of it. Rather, the concept has been in continual flux—a state that, they contend, is typical of historically important and productive scientific concepts. It is that very openness to change and manipulation, the authors argue, that made it so useful: its very mutability enabled it to be useful while the technologies and approaches used to study and theorize about it changed dramatically.

The announcement that we had decoded the human genome in 2000 ushered in a new and unique era in biomedical research and clinical medicine. This Third Edition of Principles of Gender-Specific Medicine focuses, as in the past two editions, on the essentials of sexual dimorphism in human physiology and pathophysiology, but emphasizes the latest information about molecular biology and genomic science in a variety of disciplines. Thus, this edition is a departure from the previous two; the editor solicited individual manuscripts from innovative scientists in a variety of fields rather than the traditional arrangement of sections devoted to the various subspecialties of medicine edited by section chiefs. Wherever it was available, these authors incorporated the latest information about the impact of the genome and the elements that modify its expression on human physiology and illness. All chapters progress translationally from basic science to the clinical applications of gender-specific therapy and suggest the most important topics for future investigation. This book is essential reading for all biomedical investigators and medical educators involved in gender-specific medicine. It will also be useful for primary care practitioners who need information about the importance of sex and gender in the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of illness. Outlines sex-specific differences in normal human function and explains the impact of age, hormones, and environment on the incidence and outcome of illness Reflects the latest information about the molecular basis of the sexual dimorphism in human physiology and the experience of disease Reviews the implications of our ever-improving ability to describe the genetic basis of vulnerability to disease and our capacity to alter the genome itself Illustrates the importance of new NIH guidelines that urge the inclusion of sex as a variable in research protocols

"In this book internationally recognized Clostridium experts critically review the most important aspects of clostridial research, providing the first coherent picture of the organism's molecular and cellular biology in this post-genomic era. Essential reading for every clostridia researcher, from the PhD student to the experienced scientist, as it provides a timely review of current research." --Book Jacket.