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De-Sequencing

Identity Work with Genes

Palgrave Macmillan
  • Explores contemporary impacts of genomic knowledge from different angles – such as the personalization of health, individual identity-work, new trends in policy making, and the social consequences of advancements in the medical sciences
  • Establishes a discursive and interdisciplinary framework for those who (in their academic or professional fields) have to deal with the omnipresence and rising power of genetics in our society
  • Offers a valuable cutting-edge resource for scholars and readers interested in philosophy, sociology, anthropology, STS and cognate disciplines within the social sciences and humanities more broadly

Part of the book series: Health, Technology and Society (HTE)

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Table of contents (15 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages i-xvii
  2. Introduction

    • Dana Mahr, Christoph Rehmann-Sutter, Martina von Arx
    Pages 1-16
  3. Science and Medicine

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 17-17
  4. Philosophy of Biology

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 55-55
    2. Epigenetics, Responsiveness and Embodiment

      • Maria Kronfeldner
      Pages 81-88
    3. Space and Time of Developmental Narratives

      • Claudine Burton-Jeangros
      Pages 89-93
  5. Families

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 143-143
    2. An Ordering of Letters: My Own Personal Genome

      • Kate O’Riordan
      Pages 145-158
    3. Illness in the World of the Genome

      • Barbara Katz Rothman
      Pages 159-163
  6. Individual Experiences

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 171-171
    2. Existential Storytelling in a Genomic World

      • Stephan Kopsieker
      Pages 187-193

About this book

Are you your genes? De-Sequencing: Identity Work with Genes explores this perplexing question, showing how different forms of knowledge must be contextualized to become meaningful. It is generally assumed that the genomic sequence adds up to the identity-forming material life is made of. Yet identity cannot itself adopt the form of a sequence. As the authors in this volume show, the genome must be ‘de-sequenced’ by human language to render it interpretable and meaningful in a social context. The book unpacks this type of ‘sequence-speech’ in engaging detail, adopting a personal, social, cultural, and bio-political approach to examine the transformation of human identity and reflexivity in the era of genetic citizenship.

Editors and Affiliations

  • Section de Biologie, University of Geneva, Switzerland

    Dana Mahr, Martina von Arx

About the editors

Dr. Dana Mahr is senior researcher and lecturer at the University of Geneva, Switzerland. Her research centers on how we make sense out of science, technology, and medicine from a comparative and interdisciplinary perspective.


Martina von Arx, M.A. is a PhD candidate at the University of Geneva, Switzerland. She explores how health professionals and patients experience digital technologies as part of the current developments of personalized health in Switzerland.


Bibliographic Information

  • Book Title: De-Sequencing

  • Book Subtitle: Identity Work with Genes

  • Editors: Dana Mahr, Martina von Arx

  • Series Title: Health, Technology and Society

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-7728-4

  • Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan Singapore

  • eBook Packages: Social Sciences, Social Sciences (R0)

  • Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2020

  • Hardcover ISBN: 978-981-15-7727-7Published: 08 December 2020

  • Softcover ISBN: 978-981-15-7730-7Published: 09 December 2021

  • eBook ISBN: 978-981-15-7728-4Published: 07 December 2020

  • Series ISSN: 2946-3386

  • Series E-ISSN: 2946-3378

  • Edition Number: 1

  • Number of Pages: XVII, 181

  • Number of Illustrations: 1 b/w illustrations, 6 illustrations in colour

  • Topics: Sociology, general, Medical Sociology, Medical Anthropology, Cultural Studies, Genetics and Genomics

Buy it now

Buying options

eBook USD 84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Other ways to access