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This chapter begins with an overview of the industry, including a discussion of the different types of tests available and prominent companies. It divided into sections addressing each of the different types of tests available. These discuss the companies operating and the issues which each type of test raises, including the implications for consumers. This draws upon the author’s research on the industry, some version of her dataset are available via Zenodo. https://zenodo.org/record/1183565#.Xfa18i1L0_U

This chapter probes genetic ancestry tests, which are being used increasingly by individuals for a number of reasons. Many are seeking ways to fill in gaps in their family tree; some are hoping to assert membership in certain groups or tribes; and others are simply curious. Nearly 500 test-takers filled out an online survey with questions attempting to form a basis of understanding about the types of people who take these tests, why they take them, and the impact the results have on their identity. There are multiple types of tests offered through various companies, including Y-chromosome tests to infer paternal haplogroup; mitochondrial DNA tests to infer maternal haplogroup; and autosomal or admixture tests, which examine nonsex chromosomes inherited from both parents. The majority of respondents claimed that the tests had an impact on some aspect of their life.

This chapter analyzes the complex and ambivalent implications of the post-Human Genome Project “return of biology” for the theory and practice of race and ethnicity. Genetically informed accounts of difference risk reinforcing essentialist understandings of identity; yet they can also serve to undermine notions of racial or ethnic purity, highlighting instead the inextricable mixedness of all human populations and the genetic uniqueness of every individual. The chapter traces developments in biomedical research, forensics, genetic genealogy, and identity politics, and it concludes by outlining a constructivist response to the new objectivist and naturalist accounts of race and ethnicity.

Chapter 4 examines two of the cells in the basic framework: “Enthusiasm” about the benefits of using the science of genetic inheritance, and “Skepticism” about the risks of using the science of genetic inheritance. For each viewpoint, this chapter explores arenas within medical and scientific research (including gene therapy, the search for Covid-19 vaccines, and gene editing), criminal justice (including forensic DNA databases, rapid DNA testing, and exoneration), and biogeographical ancestry (including racial and ethnic ancestry testing, race-based medicine, and deep ancestry). Chapter 4 provides evidence to support both excitement about the benefits of genomic science and concern about its risks and costs.

Chapter 1 introduces four societal uses of genomic science that demonstrate its breadth, importance, and political complexity. They are race-based medicine, racial or ethnic ancestry testing, use of DNA in the criminal justice system, and prenatal gene testing and therapy. Although most people endorse the ideas of appropriate medication, finding one’s roots, correct determination of guilt or innocence, and healthy births, each of these uses of genomic science is intensely controversial. In parallel to their benefits, these uses evoke concerns about eugenics, racial essentialism, surveillance, and discrimination. This chapter depicts each use and its controversies, outlining the contours of Genomic Politics.