ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on cancergenetics as a field in which the extension of options for genetic screening is clearly visible and which allows people to study the emergence and implications of the new genetics from a co-evolutionary perspective. From this perspective two points are especially important for understanding of the new genetics in society. First, co-evolution is a process in which technology and society are mutually shaped, starting with new options, initiatives and expectations on a local level. Second, the development and embedding of new technologies in society will always be conditioned by alignments and arrangements resulting from earlier processes of co-evolution of technology and society. These two points consider how in the Netherlands a screening practice has emerged for Familiar Adenomatous Polyposis, a particular hereditary predisposition for colon cancer. In the Netherlands, deoxyribose nucleic acid-diagnosis is made available only through a network of regional clinical genetics centres.
