The Postgenomic Condition

As the jubilation surrounding the publication of the human genome sequence ended, a question--at once sobering and exciting--moved to the fore: now that we have "the human genome," what does it mean? Drawing upon trust built over twenty years--first working in molecular biology laboratories, and then chronicling the emergence of human genomics--Jenny Reardon crafts stories that bring the reader into these much richer spaces where the meaning of genomic data and its value are being forged. In these spaces efforts to provide open access to genomic data in the name of medical breakthroughs meet the particular bodies, histories, and constraints of the people asked to offer up their genomes. Aspirations of free movement of data meet the lived realities of persons and worlds bound by resource limitations and conflicting values. While the news media is filled with grand visions of future designer drugs and babies, The Postgenomic Condition brings into view the hard on-the-ground questions of science and justice generated as many over the course of the last decade attempted to make the human genome central to living today.