Questions around the ownership of genetic information also relate to perceptions of autonomy and hierarchy within the family. A family as a group is made of individuals that are often not viewed or treated as equals. Perceptions of ownership are legally and culturally accepted within the traditional family structure.
What is the status of children? Do [...]
Men of the Mosuo society, who live around Lugu Lake on the border between Yunnan and Sichuan Provinces, China, do help to raise kids—just not their own, with whom the men typically have only limited relationships. Instead the men help look after all the children born to their own sisters, aunts, and other women of [...]
Tagged family, gene, identity, sense, structureAs families and citizens are refigured in a ‘genetic network’ (Armstrong 1998) or through forms of ‘biosociality’ (Rainbow, 1996) the individual needs to find ways to define their autonomy to themselves and to society.
The spotlight on shared genetic material alludes to the biological association (Arribus-Allyson et all, 2008) suggesting not only anatomical, but behavioural similarities [...]
The genes or mutations can be seen as bonding agents, fusing the individual into the group. However, being identified as part of this group biologically can diminish one’s autonomy over their body, privacy and life decisions. Genetic diagnosis gives us a glimpse of potential futures (Hallowell, et all 2006) and as a result can alter [...]
Tagged autonomy, future, identity, narrative, selfSurvivor’s guilt, the mental condition that occurs when a person perceives themselves to have done wrong by surviving a traumatic event, was first diagnosed in the 1960s as a condition suffered by holocaust survivors. It was later observed as part of post traumatic stress related to combat, natural disasters and even work redundancies. Interestingly the [...]
Tagged family, gene, guiltIf the family identity is derived from shared genetic makeup then what happens when a genetic condition arises de novo? Does the effected individual suddenly have a new identity? Would they now feel misaligned or somehow estranged from the family? And if so, would this individual then have a desire to begin their own dynasty? [...]
Tagged family, identityLooking back at the Price family tree, the women in the family treated the genetic information in different ways.
After Deborah has been tested positive for the BRCA gene she decided to undergo a prophylactic mastectomy. This procedure, performed as a preventive medical treatment, changes her appearance (unlike the removal of ovaries). Could this visible modification [...]
From the perspective of Darwinian evolution, reproduction has a single purpose: to mix our genes with another person’s to help ours survive and propagate - to help our own genes thrive in the next generation. But where does the desire to procreate come from when the genetic material in question is known to be [...]
Tagged BRCA, evolution, geneWith knowledge of genetic information, what is the family narrative based upon? Does the family’s sense of identity become entwined with an experience of illness?
An ancestry chart traditionally accounts the family history of marriages, births and deaths. The Price family tree follows the story of the BRCA gene’s path throughout the generations.
A family identity constructed [...]
Introduction of genetic technologies resulted in the redefining of our conception of family. By prioritising biological rather than social relationships, geneticisation has led to the biologisation of kinship. (Finkler, 2005)
Emphasising our biological connectedness redefines our perceptions of the family structure. The social group which assembles the family has many grey areas generated by behaviours, the [...]