1st Edition

Community Genetics and Genetic Alliances Eugenics, Carrier Testing, and Networks of Risk

By Aviad E. Raz Copyright 2010
208 Pages 1 B/W Illustrations
by Routledge

208 Pages 1 B/W Illustrations
by Routledge

208 Pages 1 B/W Illustrations
by Routledge

Carrier testing of adults provides information about the risk of passing a genetic mutation to your children, leading to reproductive (and some say, eugenic) decisions. Excessive carrier screening may have adverse effects, but it can also prevent suffering and open up new reproductive options. Raz's study focuses on the interplay of community genetics (the medical organisation of carrier... Read more

Introduction: Carrier Testing, Eugenics, and Networks of Risk 1. What is Community Genetics? Definitions and Debates 2. Carrier Matching and Collective Socialisation: Dor Yesharim and the Reinforcement of Stigma 3. Reproductive Carrier Testing between Orthodoxy and Change 4. The Medicalisation of Cousin Marriage: Carrier Testing in a Muslim Community 5. Genetic Alliances: The Dilemma of Care and Prevention 6. Scientific, Communal and Lay Interpretations and Communicative Gaps Regarding Carrier Testing Conclusion: In Search of Moral Models

Biography

Aviad E. Raz is Professor of Organizational and Medical Sociology, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel, where he is also directing the Behavioural Sciences Program. He has published on the subject of organisational culture, as well as on the social and bioethical aspects of health organisations, especially in the context of community genetics.

'Using opportunities to reduce suffering is a laudable intention, whatever it is called. The road to hell, however, is paved with good intentions too. Thanks heaven critics like Aviad Raz keep us alert by pointing out unwanted side effects. A warned human counts for two.' – Leo P ten Kate, Professor Emeritus of Clinical Genetics, VU University Medical Center, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

'Everyone confronting the social, cultural and ethical aspects of this field should reflect carefully on what this book has to say. It is an original, empirically informed and invaluable addition to the literature' – Ruth Chadwick, Director of the ESRC Centre for Economic and Social Aspects of Genomics, Cardiff University, UK