Genetics

Genetic technology is often invoked by supporters as an emerging toolkit to solve medical, environmental, and industrial problems. These promises for radical change rely on defining genes as infinitely powerful, yet safely modifiable in the hands of experts. While organismal modifications have fallen short of the virtuous and monstrous imaginaries of supporters and detractors, respectively, biotech industries have created and modified numerous social and economic networks. By situating genes as socionatural, relational objects, geographers have developed an analytic approach that delineates how specific biotechnology networks rearrange diverse facets of life for individuals globally. In particular, scholars have highlighted the commodification of the gene through bioprospecting as well as the application of genetic technologies in conservation science, personalized medicine, and environmental justice.