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Personalized Medicine, Genomics and Enhancement: Monuments to Neoliberalism

Received: 24 March 2017     Accepted: 6 April 2017     Published: 30 April 2017
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Abstract

This essay explores the meanings, possibilities, limitations, and some of the relationships between three currently much discussed – and debated – topics: personalized medicine, genomics, and enhancement. We believe, and gather in one place some of the literature supporting the view that all three are largely the product of the current dominant ideology of neoliberalism with its emphasis on individual freedom of choice, unwavering trust in the “wisdom of the market,” the commodification of everything, including information and promise, and the associated scientific viewpoints it employs, reductionism and biological (especially genetic) determinism. We recognize that the success (or failure) of approaches to problems based on reductionism and/or genetic influences depends upon the problem(s) considered and the uses to which the accumulating insight will be employed. We believe that we can often do better than focusing on profit motives when determining which problems to study and which outcomes are most useful.

Published in American Journal of Clinical and Experimental Medicine (Volume 5, Issue 3)
DOI 10.11648/j.ajcem.20170503.14
Page(s) 75-92
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2017. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Biological Determinism, Reductionism, -Omics, Medicalization, Horses for Courses

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  • APA Style

    Charles Joseph Kowalski, Adam Joel Mrdjenovich. (2017). Personalized Medicine, Genomics and Enhancement: Monuments to Neoliberalism. American Journal of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, 5(3), 75-92. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajcem.20170503.14

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    ACS Style

    Charles Joseph Kowalski; Adam Joel Mrdjenovich. Personalized Medicine, Genomics and Enhancement: Monuments to Neoliberalism. Am. J. Clin. Exp. Med. 2017, 5(3), 75-92. doi: 10.11648/j.ajcem.20170503.14

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    AMA Style

    Charles Joseph Kowalski, Adam Joel Mrdjenovich. Personalized Medicine, Genomics and Enhancement: Monuments to Neoliberalism. Am J Clin Exp Med. 2017;5(3):75-92. doi: 10.11648/j.ajcem.20170503.14

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ajcem.20170503.14,
      author = {Charles Joseph Kowalski and Adam Joel Mrdjenovich},
      title = {Personalized Medicine, Genomics and Enhancement: Monuments to Neoliberalism},
      journal = {American Journal of Clinical and Experimental Medicine},
      volume = {5},
      number = {3},
      pages = {75-92},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ajcem.20170503.14},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajcem.20170503.14},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajcem.20170503.14},
      abstract = {This essay explores the meanings, possibilities, limitations, and some of the relationships between three currently much discussed – and debated – topics: personalized medicine, genomics, and enhancement. We believe, and gather in one place some of the literature supporting the view that all three are largely the product of the current dominant ideology of neoliberalism with its emphasis on individual freedom of choice, unwavering trust in the “wisdom of the market,” the commodification of everything, including information and promise, and the associated scientific viewpoints it employs, reductionism and biological (especially genetic) determinism. We recognize that the success (or failure) of approaches to problems based on reductionism and/or genetic influences depends upon the problem(s) considered and the uses to which the accumulating insight will be employed. We believe that we can often do better than focusing on profit motives when determining which problems to study and which outcomes are most useful.},
     year = {2017}
    }
    

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    AB  - This essay explores the meanings, possibilities, limitations, and some of the relationships between three currently much discussed – and debated – topics: personalized medicine, genomics, and enhancement. We believe, and gather in one place some of the literature supporting the view that all three are largely the product of the current dominant ideology of neoliberalism with its emphasis on individual freedom of choice, unwavering trust in the “wisdom of the market,” the commodification of everything, including information and promise, and the associated scientific viewpoints it employs, reductionism and biological (especially genetic) determinism. We recognize that the success (or failure) of approaches to problems based on reductionism and/or genetic influences depends upon the problem(s) considered and the uses to which the accumulating insight will be employed. We believe that we can often do better than focusing on profit motives when determining which problems to study and which outcomes are most useful.
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Author Information
  • Health and Behavioral Sciences IRB, Office of Research, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA

  • Health and Behavioral Sciences IRB, Office of Research, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA

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