Genetic Explanations: Sense and Nonsense

With roots in Gregor Mendel’s pea plant experiments from the mid-19th century, the field of genetics today is sometimes held as a shining example of science’s ability to explain the inner workings of the natural world. While the mid-20th century revolution in molecular biology gave rise to feats such as delineating the structure of DNA, discovering DNA as housing the genetic code, formulating the central dogma of biology, and developing recombinant DNA techniques, the picture of DNA’s role in the hierarchy of the cell that emerged placed DNA firmly at the top. That is, DNA assumed a type of “master status” where DNA was framed as the primary factor for an organism’s development, an idea further reinforced with the nearly $3 billion dollars spent on the Human Genome Project. DNA was presented as static and unchangeable from conception, responsible for the organism’s susceptibility to particular diseases, its size and shape, and in the case of people, sometimes even their temperament, preferences, proclivities, behaviors, and attitudes. It is against this genetic determinism that this collection of essays edited by Sheldon Krimsky and Jeremy Gruber works to dismantle. Divided into three sections, the first tackles the frameworks that ground how DNA is presented and the roles it is thought to fulfill. These articles discuss DNA as both a material and ideological entity. They question the portrayal of DNA as directing the function and organization of the cell (and subsequently the direction of the developing organism), while also deconstructing language that describes organisms as machines and popular ideas about genes and genetic disease. The second section focuses on the role of genes as the predictors of disease, specifically discussing disease causation, psychiatry, autism, cancer, and personalized medicine. Each one of these chapters challenges the idea of one’s DNA as the primary causes for particular diseases. The third section grapples with the intersections between genetics and society, focusing on how the portrayal of genetics has influenced popular conceptions of DNA’s role in human behavior. The chapters in this section examine how genetics as an ideology unfolds within theories of behavioral genetics, direct-to-consumer marketing of genetic tests, contemporary reproductive practices, and forensic DNA evidence. Although the book deals with a complex branch of science, it does not focus on the many technical details of genetics, but instead provides overarching concepts with some details. This makes the book accessible to the interested lay reader, but perhaps not specific enough for those already familiar with genetics as a biological and cultural entity. As all the chapters argue against various forms of genetic determinism, many make the same general points — that while DNA is certainly critical, its role has been exaggerated and misinterpreted and it should really be understood as one of many participants in a complex network of actors — leading to some redundancy between the chapters. However, overall, the book is a well-reasoned and articulate argument for adopting a more nuanced vision of how DNA interacts with biology and society.