Constructing biological identity in the 21st century

The theme of Digital and Social Media is involved in research to communicate across space and society.

A DNA blot comparison

How does society engage with emerging biological technology?

Following the complete sequencing of the human genome at the start of this millennium, Dr Kate O’Riordan examines how society engages with emerging biological technology, and how the highly scientific area of genetic research and genomics is becoming integrated into public perception and our everyday lives.

Understanding the proliferation of, and public engagement with, genomics in contemporary culture

The completion of the Human Genome Project in 2003 saw the culmination of a 13-year, international project to sequence the entire human genome and to identify all of the approximately 25,000 genes in human DNA.

The question is: how does such a monumental project, and the proliferation of genetics research that has occurred before and since, impact on our daily lives?

The research of Dr Kate O’Riordan, Senior Lecturer in Media (Department of Media and Film, Centre for Material Digital Culture, Centre for Gender Studies) at the University of Sussex, is a study of how science and technology integrate into society’s mainstream and how public engagement with emerging technology develops and evolves.

There are two main strands to Dr O’Riordan’s work: embodiment and digital media (specifically information and communications technology); and, more recently, embodiment and human biotechnology, such as genomics and genetic cloning.

This work examines how technology shifts from being high tech and futuristic to being everyday and mainstream.

For the majority of people, the media are the primary vector through which they learn about and engage with new technology and science.

Forensic genetics and DNA become everyday through crime drama, for example. Dr O’Riordan’s recently published book, The Genome Incorporated: Constructing Biodigital Identity, examines the dramatic proliferation of human genomics across contemporary media cultures, exploring what it means for a technology to thoroughly saturate everyday life.

The book uses case studies in reality television, art exhibitions and online DNA tests to illustrate the transmission and consumption of genomics.

The emergence of ‘direct-to-consumer’ bioinformatics companies offers genome scanning and analysis directly to the public, bypassing routes through traditional healthcare.

These new sources of biological information are often pitched as being useful to an ageing and affluent population, to assist prospective clients in making informed healthcare and lifestyle choices.

Ultimately, however, the practical benefit to the consumer and the uptake of such a product remains to be determined.

The Genome Incorporated examines the adoption of media vehicles, such as lifestyle television programming – genome scanning ‘reality TV’ – rather than direct advertising to frame such a product and raises a debate about media representation of biotechnology.

Since the publication of The Genome Incorporated, Dr O’Riordan’s research has followed two associated strands.

The first investigates collective ‘publics’, ie the public perception of human genomics. This includes an analysis of a Mass Observation Directive on ‘genes, genetics and cloning’.

The other strand of her work follows genomics and individual identity, with an increasing interest in how individuals use genetics to tell the narratives of their lives (in terms of health, personal ancestry, behaviour and sexuality).

This area seeks to understand how specific individuals and populations respond, intellectually and emotionally, to genetics research in relation to themselves and their community.

Such research is of the moment, as new markets open up in genetic research and this becomes a feature of everyday life.

Given the massive international interest in the Human Genome Project, and the ongoing investment in this area, the question of how this technology moves beyond a scientific and clinical context into our everyday lives becomes key.