Principal Investigator: Orville Lee Co-Principal Investigator: Catherine Bliss New School for Social Research
In the wake of the human genome project, scientists are devising new strategies to classify humans and are once again debating the term """"race"""" for its viability as a biological concept. This research asks: What are scientists doing with race since the mapping of the human genome? How do new institutional arrangements in the field of molecular genetics affect changes in the questions asked and the interpretations made? Do the producers of today''''s biological racial discourse share a certain set of values and conceptualizations that influence their work? The project examines all publications expressing views pertaining to the molecular debate over race. First, the concepts, terms, and arguments of this discourse will be coded and analyzed for patterns of confluence, variance, and consistency. Second, the institutional configuration of laboratories, regulatory bodies, funding agencies, pharmaceutical companies, science media, and DNA fingerprinting corporations will be analyzed for its capacity to shape this discourse on race. Finally, all participants in the debate - scientists, researchers and analysts who have authored relevant publications - will be interviewed. The interviews will draw out values and conceptualizations that scientists bring to the discourse and help us understand their own motivations for and perceptions of the work they do.
Molecular genetics is fast becoming a dominant paradigm of biological science; therefore, this research will illuminate highly pertinent discussions of race. Additionally, this research will promote future ties between sociology and the natural sciences. Interviews will provide an opportunity for the co-PI to form relationships with the leading geneticists who are defining race today. These relationships will encourage dialogue and constructive critique between disciplines. The co-PI will report her findings to the National Human Genome Research Institute''''s Ethical, Legal and Social Implications (ELSI) Research Program in the hope that a critical discourse and lucid policy may be formulated.
