Binding: Paperback
Description: At a ceremony announcing the completion of the first draft of the human genome in 2000, President Bill Clinton declared " I believe one of the great truths to emerge from this triumphant expedition inside the human genome is that in genetic terms all human beings regardless of race are more than 99.9 percent the same." Yet despite this declaration of unity biomedical research has focused increasingly on mapping that.1 percent of difference particularly as it relates to race. This trend is exemplified by the drug Bi Dil. Approved by the FD a in 2005 as the first drug with a race - specific indication on its label Bi Dil was originally touted as a pathbreaking therapy to treat heart failure in black patients and help underserved populations. Upon closer examination however Jonathan Kahn reveals a far more complex story. At the most basic level Bi Dil became racial through legal maneuvering and commercial pressure as much as through medical understandings of how the drug worked. Using Bi Dil as a central case study Kahn broadly examines the legal and commercial imperatives driving the expanding role of race in biomedicine even as scientific advances in genomics could render the issue irrelevant. He surveys the distinct politics informing the use of race in medicine and the very real health disparities caused by racism and social injustice that are now being cast as a mere function of genetic difference. Calling for a more reasoned approach to using race in biomedical research and practice Kahn asks readers to recognize that just as genetics is a complex field requiring sensitivity and expertise so too is race particularly in the field of biomedicine.
Title: Race In A Bottle The Story Of Bidil And Racialized Medicine In A Post - Genomic Age
Author(s): Kahn Jonathan
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Barcode: 9780231162999
Pages: 328 Pages
Publication Date: 8/12/2014
Category: Medicine: General Issues