Making the Mexican Diabetic

Race, Science, and the Genetics of Inequality

Bibliographic Data

ID23398592
AuthorsMichael J Montoya (corresponding author), Michael Montoya
Year2011
Pages282
Publication date2011-03-18
Open AccessNo
TypeBOOK
VenueMaking the Mexican Diabetic (SOURCE_BOOK)
PublisherUniversity of California Press (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1525/9780520949003
OpenAlexW4254424674
Open LibraryOL29599301M
ISBN9780520949003
LanguageEN
Citations received66

This innovative ethnographic study animates the racial politics that underlie genomic research into type 2 diabetes, one of the most widespread chronic diseases and one that affects ethnic groups disproportionately. Michael J. Montoya follows blood donations from "Mexican-American" donors to laboratories that are searching out genetic contributions to diabetes. His analysis lays bare the politics and ethics of the research process, addressing the implicit contradiction of undertaking genetic research that reinscribes race’s importance even as it is being demonstrated to have little scientific validity. In placing DNA sampling, processing, data set sharing, and carefully crafted science into a broader social context, Making the Mexican Diabetic underscores the implications of geneticizing disease while illuminating the significance of type 2 diabetes research in American life.

Geography · Global Public Health Policies and Epidemiology · Medicine · Obesity and Health Practices · Diabetes · Genetics · Medical anthropology · Medical care · Mexican Americans · Mexico · Non-insulin-dependent diabetes · Social medicine