Dorothy Roberts' seminal work, "Fatal Invention: How Science, Politics, and Big Business Re-create Race in the Twenty-first Century," presents a poignant critique of the contemporary race concept in genetics and biomedicine. Roberts challenges the assumption that race is a genetic or biological category, arguing instead that it is a social construct with no basis in human biology. This book is an essential read for health professionals as it pushes us to confront and question deeply entrenched beliefs about race in medicine. By doing so, it equips us with the intellectual tools necessary to dismantle systemic racism within healthcare and build more equitable health practices.
Key Terms:
Biocitizen: The role of a person's rights and choices that affect health in the context of the society in which they are a citizen (link here)
Algorithm: is a list set of instructions, used to solve problems or perform tasks, based on the understanding of available alternatives (link here)
Genomics: the study of all of a person's genes (the genome), including interactions of those genes with each other and with the person's environment (link here)
Biosocial: of, relating to, or concerned with the interaction of the biological aspects and social relationships of living organisms (link here)
Embodiment: living life informed through the sense experience of the body (Ann Saffi Biasetti, 2023) (link here)
Genetic Surveillance: sequencing the genetic material of pathogens and identifying changes linked to the origins or characteristics of a disease (link here)
