Description
Book SynopsisWith Tay-Sachs, cystic fibrosis, and sickle cell disease as a powerful backdrop, the authors provide a glimpse into a diverse America where racial ideologies, cultural politics, and conflicting beliefs about the power of genetics shape disparate health care expectations and experiences.
Trade ReviewConcise and well-argued... essential reading for anyone interested in genetics, disease, and the meaning of race. Science 2006 Practitioners of the future will have to take these separate histories into account as this new era unfolds. -- Doris Teichler Zallen, PhD JAMA 2006 Fascinating. -- Jackie Leach Scully Social History of Medicine 2007 Perfectly suited for use in teaching the history of medicine and health... At once concise, readable, and demanding in its parsimony. It should not be missed by anyone who cares about the emerging shape of health care in the age of genomic medicine. -- Christopher Crenner Journal of the History of Medicine 2008 Offers interesting information and pertinent discussions... The book deserves to be read by a large public. -- Michel Morange Isis 2008 The Troubled Dream of Genetic Medicine brings into focus intriguing concepts at the intersection of science and society... This book ought to encourage others to produce biosocial histories of this kind. -- Abidemi Adegbola, M.D. Child and Adolescent Psychiatry 2009
Table of ContentsAcknowledgments
Introduction: Ethnic Symbols in Conflicted Times
1. Eradicating a ''Jewish Gene'': Promises and Pitfalls in the Fight against Tay-Sachs Disease
2. Risky Business in White America: Gene Therapy and Other Ventures in the Treatment of Cystic Fibrosis
3. A Perilous Lottery for the Black Family: Sickle Cells, Social Justice, and the New Therapeutic Gamble
Conclusion: Dreams amid Diversity
Notes
Glossary
Index
