The justification of studies in genetic epidemiology - political scaling in China Medical City

Genetic epidemiology examines the role of genetic factors in determining health and disease in families and in populations to help addressing health problems in a responsible manner. This paper uses a case study of genetic epidemiology in Taizhou, China, to explore ways in which anthropology can contribute to the validation of studies in genetic epidemiology. It does so, first, by identifying potential overgeneralizations of data, often due to mismatching scale and, second, by examining it's embedding in political, historical and local contexts. The example of the longitudinal cohort study in Taizhou illustrates dimensions of such 'political scaling'. Political scaling is a notion used here to refer to the effects of scaling biases in relation to the justification of research in terms of relevance, reach and research ethics. The justification of a project on genetic epidemiology involves presenting a maximum of benefits and a minimum of burden for the population. To facilitate the delineation of political scaling, an analytical distinction between donating and benefiting communities was made using the notions of 'scaling of relevance', 'scaling of reach' and 'scaling of ethics'. Political scaling results at least partly from factors external to research. By situating political scaling in the context of historical, political and local discourses, anthropologists can play a complementary role in genetic epidemiology.

Medienart:

E-Artikel

Erscheinungsjahr:

2018

Erschienen:

2018

Enthalten in:

Zur Gesamtaufnahme - volume:25

Enthalten in:

Anthropology & medicine - 25(2018), 1 vom: 03. Apr., Seite 102-120

Sprache:

Englisch

Beteiligte Personen:

Sleeboom-Faulkner, Margaret [VerfasserIn]

Links:

Volltext

Themen:

Biosecurity
China
Epidemiology
Genetics
Journal Article
Political scaling

Anmerkungen:

Date Completed 23.03.2018

Date Revised 23.03.2018

published: Print

Citation Status MEDLINE

doi:

10.1080/13648470.2017.1381229

funding:

Förderinstitution / Projekttitel:

PPN (Katalog-ID):

NLM281894779