'Like editing bits of ourselves': Geneticisation and human fate

Abstract

Disquiet relating to the potential for knowing one's 'fate' emerged strongly in sixteen focus groups relating to genetic testing held in Aotearoa/New Zealand. This paper draws on the concept of 'life itself', rephrased here as 'capitalised genomics', to understand this reaction. A tension relating to the discourse of geneticisation, in which 'the gene' is held to carry essential identity, links to ancestors and people, and yet also to create fixed and innate characteristics, is described. Insofar as genes are also understood to be coded and manipulable information, participants were concerned that the instrumentalisation inherent to Western technoscience may become applicable to human nature. This paper argues that participants' focus on issues associated with potentially 'knowing one's fate' thus speaks to an understanding of the underlying dynamics of human genomics within a capitalistic context. © 2006 Taylor & Francis.