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„Know what makes you, you”: the effects of new genetic tests on concepts of ethnicity, kinship, and illness

Anika König

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In 2003, one of the most ground-breaking international research projects of all time, the Human Genome Project, published the first almost complete sequence of the human genome. US President Bill Clinton commented on the results of the project with a speech in which he emphasised the contribution of the research results to a definitive deconstruction of the idea of human ‘races’ and concluded: ‘I'm happy that today, the only race we are talking about is the human race.’ Since then, research in human genetics and genomics has made enormous progress. However, in many respects this has led to a solidification of biological concepts of human existence rather than dissolving them. An important contribution to this development is made by so-called ‘direct-to-consumer genetic tests’, which can be ordered worldwide on the Internet and promise to provide information about ethnic and geographical origin, the existence of genetic relatives and predispositions to various diseases. This seminar takes an anthropological look at this new form of biologisation of ethnicity, kinship and illness/health. With the help of theoretical approaches from anthropology and science and technology studies, we will deal with these three topics in depth and examine the extent to which genetic tests confirm existing social structures, such as racist categories, or also change them. close

Additional appointments

Thu, 2025-04-17 10:00 - 12:00

Lecturers:
Prof. Dr. Anika König