The project is a comparative analysis of how ideas of race and ethnicity interact with genomic research in Mexico, Colombia and Brazil, where geneticists are mapping local population genomes, with the objective of combating diseases, and tracing "racial" ancestries. These countries have high levels of genetic "admixture" and interest geneticists pursuing the genetic components of disorders. Scientists in these countries often link their findings explicitly to questions of national identity, racial-ethnic difference, racism and multiculturalism, provoking media attention and public debate. Through ethnographic lab work and interviews, the project explores how racial, ethnic and national categories enter these scientific endeavours, whether the categories are reproduced and/or reformulated, and what are the ethical and normative implications of this research. Focusing mainly on media coverage, there is also some preliminary analysis of how the information that scientists disseminate enters the public domains. All three countries have a history and a national identity based on mestizaje (racial-cultural mixture between Europeans, Africans and indigenous Americans), but the idea of mixture is slightly different in each case; the project will explore how the knowledge produced about genetics reinforces or challenges particular national versions of the ideology of mestizaje.

InterviewAudio recording of public presentation