ABSTRACT
The birth of the individual ‘genetically at risk’ has to be understood as one dimension of a wider mutation in personhood that is termed as 'somatic individuality' in which new and direct relations are established between body and self. Geneticization is seen as an individualizing tactic that redirects scarce resources away from social solutions to social problems, and represents a threat to doctrines such as equal opportunities, as well as to ideas to free will, intentionality and responsibility. Patients at genetic risk and their families are not passive elements in the practice of cure. The studies carried out by Paul Rabinow as well as Vololona Rabeharisoa and Michel Callon have shown that such persons are increasingly demanding control over the practices linked to their own health, seeking multiple forms of expert and non-expert advice in devising their life strategies. Critics also tend to suggest that the new medical genetics leads to a focus upon the individual as an isolate.
