Admission free, all welcome! <<Picture (Metafile)>> Unit for History and Philosophy of Science Faculty of Science, University of Sydney Research Seminar Series Semester 2, 2007
The seminar will take place in the Science Faculty Meeting Room, Carslaw 450 (Level 4), and will begin promptly at 6:00pm. Monday 27 August Biobanking and the Life of Populations A/Professor Catharine Waldby Dept. of Sociology, University of Sydney & Global Biopolitics Research Group Throughout the world, nation-states are creating population biobanks, which collect blood and tissue samples along with lifestyle and health information from substantial portions of their citizenry. Iceland, Estonia, the UK, Sweden, Austria and Japan all have active national biobank collections, and several other countries are set to follow suit. Genetic information gathered by biobanks is pharmacologically valuable because it allows researchers to search for genes and biological markers that correlate with specific disease states (gene expression) and to study the relationship between an individual's genetic profile and drug response (personalized medicine). These forms of research are only valid over very large samples, hence the need for the enrollment of large sectors of national populations. This paper will ask what population biobanks can tell us about the place of populations in the emerging bioeconomies of the advanced industrial nations. While states and clinics appeal to potential blood donors as citizens, who owe a debt of blood to their national communities, biobanks also play a crucial commercial role in supporting the development of the pharmacogenetics industry, and in most cases the genetic information is commercialized in various ways. How does the life of populations, understood at both an individual, clinical level and as a temporal and spatial mass of genetic interactions, contribute to emerging forms of Biocapital? What are its modes of productivity, and what kinds of equity issues are raised by this participation in the bioeconomy? Biographical Note Catherine Waldby researches and publishes in social studies of biomedicine and the life sciences. She is particularly interested in HIV/AIDS, the relations between medicine and sexuality, modes of medical imaging and representation, and human tissue economies. Her books include AIDS and the Body Politic: Biomedicine and Sexual Difference, The Visible Human Project: Informatic Bodies and Posthuman Medicine, and with Robert Mitchell Tissue Economies: Blood, Organs and Cell Lines in Late Capitalism. Her current research focuses on biobanking, the stem cell sciences and regenerative medicine, and the impacts of neo-liberalism and globalization on their research practices and tissue sourcing. She has received national and international research grants for her work on embryonic stem cells, blood donation and biobanking. She is a foundation member of the global biopolitics research group (www.globalbiopolitics.org), and a member of the International Advisory Committee of the Genome Austria Tissue Bank. *** Lisa Campano Administrative Assistant Unit for History & Philosophy of Science Room 441, Carslaw Building F07 University of Sydney NSW 2006 Tel: (02)9351 4226 Fax: (02)9351 4124 Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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