Consuming DNA: The good citizen in the age of precision medicine

Abstract

The convergence of increasingly efficient high-throughput genetic sequencing technology and ubiquitous Internet use has fueled the proliferation of companies that provide direct-to-consumer (DTC) personal genetic information. The emergence of consumer genetics reflects several shifts in the governance of genetic testing and management of human genetic data. This article discusses DTC genetics as a case study of neoliberalism and contemporary transformations in medicine that construe disease and its management through economic rationalities. At stake are shifts in subjectivities from "patient" to "consumer" and the meaning of being a "good citizen" in the context of precision medicine. Engaging concepts of biopower, biosociality, and biovalue in the public consumption of genetic information, this article analyzes DTC genetics and its effect on social connection, identity, and modes of participation in the production of biomedical knowledge and the management of health and risk.