The aim of this workshop is to bring together social scientists interested in different aspects of genetics and genomics, to discuss recent developments in the field. In addition to scientific and technological developments in DNA sequencing and the datafication of genetic information, we aim to foster collective discussions on, among other things, the expanding role of genomics in the legal system and the reframing of ancestrality in the age of “genetic testing”.

Argument

Genetics has been a topic of interest to social scientists for half a century. Along the way, sociologists, anthropologists and historians of medicine shed useful light on the rise of medical genetics and the many questions it raised, while scholars from other fields explored various other issues — from the 'totemisation' of the gene to the risks associated with recombinant DNA technology, and so on. Then came the Human Genome Project and the advent of genomics (the first in an ongoing series of omics). As public interest reached unprecedented levels and translated into countless scientific initiatives, the social, political and economic uses of DNA continued to grow and diversify. Accordingly, from the mid-2000s onwards, the social studies of genetics and genomics expanded well beyond the realms of medicine and reproduction, to include policing and justice, and the ‘molecular reinscription’ of collective identities. While this diversification of research topics has helped to highlight the diverse and numerous issues raised by the spread of genomics, it has also led to a segmentation of the research community into a number of sub-specialties. In contrast, the aim of this workshop is to bring together social scientists interested in different aspects of genetics and genomics, to discuss recent developments in the field. In addition to scientific and technological developments in DNA sequencing and the datafication of genetic information, we aim to foster collective discussions on, among other things, the expanding role of genomics in the legal system and the reframing of ancestrality in the age of "genetic testing".

International Workshop organized by Luc Berlivet (CNRS, Cermes3), Ricardo Campello (Universidade Estadual de Campinas, NEV-USP), Claude-Olivier Doron (Université Paris Cité, Sphere) and Joëlle Vailly (CNRS, IRIS)

Program

9h15 Welcome

Session 1: Genomic Research and Clinical Innovations

• 9h30-10h Genomics on Trial: Sequencing Babies and Assembling the Future of Genetic Medicine, Daniel Navon (University of California San Diego)
• 10h-10h30 Genetics in Healthcare. Patient Work and the Production of Inequalities, Juliette Froger-Lefebvre (GEMASS, Cermes3)
• Break
• 10h45-11h15 Portrait of the French Hospital as a Research Hot Spot: Population Genetics in Medical Settings from the 1980s to the Present, Luc Berlivet (CNRS, Cermes3) and Catherine Bourgain (Inserm, Cermes3) 
• 11h15-12h Discussant: Carine Vassy (Université Sorbonne Paris Nord, IRIS) and general discussion

Session 2: Policing and Carceral Use of DNA

• 13h30-14h Forensic Genetics and Mass Incarceration in Brazil, Ricardo Campello (State University of Campinas, NEV-USP)
• 14h-14h30 Dissolving Boundaries, Fostering Dependencies. The New Forensic Genetics Assemblage, Matthias Wienroth (Northumbria University)
• 14h30-15h Genetics and the Politics of Security, Joëlle Vailly (CNRS, IRIS)
• 15h-15h45 Discussant: Catherine Bourgain (Inserm, Cermes3) and general discussion

Break

Session 3: Genetic Identity, Race, Ethnicity

• 16h-16h30 Curious about Race: Embracing Generous Methods in the Study of Differences in Science, Amade M'charek (University of Amsterdam)
• 16h30-17h Genetic Ethnicity: Between What is Known and What cannot be Proven, Sarah Abel (Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México)
• 17h-17h30 Exploring Ethnicity in German Life Sciences: Differences, Meanings, and Reasons, Tino Plümecke (University of Freiburg)
• 17h30-18h15 Discussant: Claude-Olivier Doron (Université Paris Cité, SPHERE) and general discussion