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<b>Call for Papers: The Business of Race and Science<br>
<br>
Conference: March 30-31, 2007 <br>
Center for the Study of Diversity in Science, Technology, and Medicine
<br>
Massachusetts Institute of Technology<br>
Cambridge, Massachusetts<br>
<br>
Submission Deadline: October 15th, 2006<br>
</b> <br>
Recent advances in genetics have renewed interest in sciences and
technologies of race. Although humans may share 99.9% of their
genes, there may be much that is interesting, even profitable, in the
remaining 0.1%. This has fueled rapidly growing interest in a range
of products that claim to take advantage of differences between human
populations. Companies now market race-specific medications and
vitamins, and other racial therapeutics are in development. Competing
laboratories offer genetic analyses of race and ancestry. Racial
science has infiltrated our discussions of topics as wide-ranging as
cosmetics and forensics, while parallel developments commercialize
differences between strains of plants and animals. Increasing
funding for racial analyses from governments, corporations, and consumers
will only accelerate this process.<br>
<br>
Are these ventures appropriate uses of new understandings of race?
Will this commodification of racial science help or harm the targeted
populations and society at large? Who speaks for populations in
endorsing or sanctioning the commercialization of racial
difference? How will the controversies play out in different
countries and contexts? How will attending to the business of
racial science help understand the science itself and clarify its role in
our world? This conference invites papers from many disciplines --
medicine, pharmacology, history, anthropology, sociology, STS, genetics,
business, ethics, law, and others -- to discuss the promise and pitfalls
of the new business of race and science.<br>
<br>
Abstracts (300 words or less) should be submitted by October 15th
to:<br>
<br>
Gregory Dorr, Ph.D.<br>
Program in Science, Technology, and Society<br>
Massachusetts Institute of Technology<br>
77 Massachusetts Avenue E51-185<br>
Cambridge, MA 02139<br>
gdorr@mit.edu (email submissions are encouraged)<br><br>
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Debbie Meinbresse<br>
STS Program, MIT<br>
617-452-2390<br>
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