ABSTRACT
It’s hard to determine what’s hype and what’s not in the burgeoning field of human genetic science. The media breathlessly reports new developments almost daily, touting advances that purport to reveal nature’s deepest secrets, like which gene makes grandpa a confirmed drinker, and why sister is so exceptionally mean. New research even claims that our food likes and dislikes are stored in our genes (Severson 2007). A simple cheek swab genetic test that purports to predict whether your child will excel at endurance sports like distance running, speed and power sports such as football, or a combination of both, is being marketed for just $149 (Macur 2008), and the director of the United States National Institute on Drug Abuse appears on a popular national television program admonishing that women with a certain genetic variant who smoke during pregnancy put their children at risk for future aggressive behavior problems (Volkow 2009). Throughout the postindustrial world, researching one’s own family tree has grown so popular that one observer characterized the current era as “the age of household genetics” (Seabrook 2001). Still, as important a landmark as deciphering the human genetic code might someday prove to be, for now its practical uses reside principally in the area of medicine.
