Society and the Human Genome

In June 2000, the draft sequence of the human genome was announced. It is, and will be for some years, incomplete, but the vast majority is now available. Currently about a third is finished (including two complete chromosomes); the rest has good coverage, but not long-range continuity. First-pass analysis indicates, among other things, fewer genes than expected: about 40000 now looks a likely number. This uncertainty illustrates the difficulty of interpretation: the sequence is not an end in itself, but a resource to be continually reanalysed as our biological understanding increases. That is the scientific reason for releasing it promptly, fully and freely. The social reasons for doing so are even more compelling.

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Revitalizing Difference in the HapMap: Race and Contemporary Human Genetic Variation Research

The Journal of Law Medicine & Ethics ◽

10.1111/j.1748-720x.2008.293.x ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 36 (3) ◽

pp. 471-477 ◽

Cited By ~ 17

Author(s):

Jennifer A. Hamilton

Keyword(s):

Genetic Variation ◽

Human Genome ◽

Genetic Research ◽

The United States ◽

Genome Project ◽

Human Genetic Variation ◽

Early 21St Century ◽

The Social ◽

English Speaking ◽

The Human Genome Project

In 2000, researchers from the Human Genome Project (HGP) proclaimed that the initial sequencing of the human genome definitively proved, among other things, that there was no genetic basis for race. The genetic fact that most humans were 99.9% the same at the level of their DNA was widely heralded and circulated in the English-speaking press, especially in the United States. This pronouncement seemed proof that long-term antiracist efforts to de-biologize race were legitimized by scientific findings. Yet, despite the seemingly widespread acceptance of the social construction of race, post-HGP genetic science has seen a substantial shift toward the use of race variables in genetic research and, according to a number of prominent scholars, is re-invoking the specter of earlier forms of racial science in some rather discomfiting ways. During the past seven years, the main thrust of human genetic research, especially in the realm of biomedicine, has shifted from a concern with the 99.9% of the shared genome — what is thought to make humans alike — towards an explicit focus on the 0.1% that constitutes human genetic variation. Here I briefly explore some of the potential implications of the conceptualization and practice of early 21st century genetic variation research, especially as it relates to questions of race.

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Genes for intermediate filament proteins and the draft sequence of the human genome

Journal of Cell Science ◽

10.1242/jcs.114.14.2569 ◽

2001 ◽

Vol 114 (14) ◽

pp. 2569-2575 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Michael Hesse ◽

Thomas M. Magin ◽

Klaus Weber

Keyword(s):

Human Genome ◽

Dna Sequences ◽

Intermediate Filament ◽

Muscle Protein ◽

Gene Families ◽

Type I ◽

Type Ii ◽

Draft Sequence ◽

Intermediate Filament Proteins ◽

Processed Pseudogenes

We screened the draft sequence of the human genome for genes that encode intermediate filament (IF) proteins in general, and keratins in particular. The draft covers nearly all previously established IF genes including the recent cDNA and gene additions, such as pancreatic keratin 23, synemin and the novel muscle protein syncoilin. In the draft, seven novel type II keratins were identified, presumably expressed in the hair follicle/epidermal appendages. In summary, 65 IF genes were detected, placing IF among the 100 largest gene families in humans. All functional keratin genes map to the two known keratin clusters on chromosomes 12 (type II plus keratin 18) and 17 (type I), whereas other IF genes are not clustered. Of the 208 keratin-related DNA sequences, only 49 reflect true keratin genes, whereas the majority describe inactive gene fragments and processed pseudogenes. Surprisingly, nearly 90% of these inactive genes relate specifically to the genes of keratins 8 and 18. Other keratin genes, as well as those that encode non-keratin IF proteins, lack either gene fragments/pseudogenes or have only a few derivatives. As parasitic derivatives of mature mRNAs, the processed pseudogenes of keratins 8 and 18 have invaded most chromosomes, often at several positions. We describe the limits of our analysis and discuss the striking unevenness of pseudogene derivation in the IF multigene family. Finally, we propose to extend the nomenclature of Moll and colleagues to any novel keratin.

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Human Genome: Draft Sequence

Encyclopedia of Life Sciences ◽

10.1038/npg.els.0005395 ◽

2005 ◽

Author(s):

Tim JP Hubbard

Keyword(s):

Human Genome ◽

Draft Sequence ◽

Genome Draft ◽

Human Genome Draft Sequence

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The global lexicostatistical database: A total archive of linguistic prehistory

History of the Human Sciences ◽

10.1177/0952695118804751 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 31 (5) ◽

pp. 106-128 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Judith R.H. Kaplan

Keyword(s):

Human Genome ◽

Long Range ◽

Human Genome Project ◽

Historical Linguistics ◽

Genome Project ◽

Human Language ◽

Web Based ◽

Epistemological Pluralism

Described as a ‘sort of Human Genome Project for historical linguistics’, the Evolution of Human Languages Project (EHL) is dedicated to promoting long-range genealogical research into linguistic prehistory. Toward that end, its architects have sought to collect and coordinate evidence of every known human language, roughly 6000 in all, fostering an interdisciplinary and internationally accessible environment for the study of historical universals and contemporary diversity. This article investigates the roots and branches of the Global Lexicostatistical Database – a component project of the EHL. It pays special attention to strategies for encoding epistemological pluralism in a web-based archive of global proportions.

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Human genetics and genomics a decade after the release of the draft sequence of the human genome

Human Genomics ◽

10.1186/1479-7364-5-6-577 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 5 (6) ◽

pp. 577 ◽

Cited By ~ 60

Author(s):

Nasheen Naidoo ◽

Yudi Pawitan ◽

Richie Soong ◽

David N Cooper ◽

Chee-Seng Ku

Keyword(s):

Human Genome ◽

Human Genetics ◽

Draft Sequence ◽

Genetics And Genomics

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Social Aspects in the Assessment of Biobased Value Chains

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su12239843 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 12 (23) ◽

pp. 9843 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Nirvana Angela Marting Vidaurre ◽

Ricardo Vargas-Carpintero ◽

Moritz Wagner ◽

Jan Lask ◽

Iris Lewandowski

Keyword(s):

Social Life ◽

Empirical Studies ◽

Social Life Cycle Assessment ◽

Social Aspects ◽

Empirical Literature ◽

Value Chains ◽

Family Farm ◽

The Social ◽

The World ◽

Good Coverage

Social Life-Cycle Assessment (S-LCA) is under continuous development. The Methodological Sheets for Subcategories in S-LCA are a set of guidelines commonly used for the performance of such assessments. They cover a variety of stakeholders and subcategories for the social assessment of products in general. However, they may not necessarily be appropriate for the assessment of biobased value chains of agricultural and forestry origin. The aim of this study is the identification of social aspects relevant for the assessment of biobased value chains across various regions of the world, including those aspects possibly overlooked in the Methodological Sheets for Subcategories in S-LCA. For this purpose, a literature review of empirical studies was performed using the sheets as a reference. The results show that the Methodological Sheets for Subcategories in S-LCA provide good coverage of social topics relevant for biobased value chains, but that the stakeholders “smallholder” and “family farm” are not adequately addressed. Drawing on the empirical literature reviewed, the study emphasizes the relevance of these stakeholders in the analysis of biobased value chains of agricultural and forestry origin, and proposes criteria for consideration in the assessment of this stakeholder.

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