From Resistance to Usefulness: Sociology and the Clinical Use of Genetic Tests

Abstract

Drawing on previous research on geneticization and the clinical uptake of pharmacogenetics, this article argues for the use of the concept of clinical usefulness, in preference to the idea of clinical resistance to such testing. A general framework for clinical usefulness is sketched out, looking at how a number of features (clinicians accuracy, the economic aspects of such tests and general cultural aspects of the clinic) influence how a genetic or pharmacogenetic test will be seen to be by clinicians.