Modern biology does not simply generate new knowledge in genomics. At the very least, should it not lead us to question our responsibilities in light of its advances?
A growing awareness of the new responsibilities facing us.
Ancestry genomics, environmental epigenomics, and the study of ancient DNA are now profoundly transforming the very way in which we conceive of identity. And they directly challenge us to become aware of the new responsibilities now facing us.
This is essentially the subject of a fascinating article by François Romijn, former research associate at the F.R.S.-FNRS and the Laboratory of Anthropology of Contemporary Worlds (LAMC) at the Université Libre de Bruxelles, published in 2023 under the title: “New Specialized Knowledge of the Biological and the Redefinition of Responsibility: Ancestry Genomics, Environmental Epigenomics, and Ancient DNA.”
Between so-called “recreational” direct-to-consumer DNA tests (banned in France but enjoying considerable success on social media), epigenetic research, and ancient DNA analysis, science is now redefining the boundaries of genomic inheritance and how individuals relate to it.
Ancestry genomics prompts us to reconsider our relationship to our origins. Environmental epigenomics reveals the imprint left by past trauma and the environment on future generations. Paleogenomics, for its part, sheds light, among other things, on human diversity and migration across the millennia.
These forms of knowledge open up an unprecedented debate: are we defined by our genes, our environments, or our choices? And in light of the advances of modern biology, how should society rethink individual and collective responsibilities with regard to genomic data? From the general public, who are being called upon to recognize the crucial importance of genomic data, to lawmakers, and of course to scientists.
And it is precisely to this threefold scientific, ethical, and societal challenge that GENARO’s revolutionary innovation brings concrete solutions.
The full article is available at https://journals.openedition.org/sociologies/22118
Abstract :
Drawing on work conducted in recent years, this text extends lines of reflection found in the work of Jean-Louis Genard—on the redefinitions of the relationship to responsibility—into fields of practice in which the biological carries interpretants that resist those of modern responsibility. On the basis of three distinct forms of specialized knowledge, all of which are becoming increasingly accessible to the general public—ancestry genomics, environmental epigenomics, and human paleogenomics—social actors formulate narratives that discursively connect the results of genomic analyses with identity narratives, singular temporalities linking past and present, and relationships between self and others. Through these narratives, new forms of relationship to responsibility and identity construction seem to be emerging. These are brought particularly clearly to light by the analytical tools and reflections developed by Jean-Louis Genard.
