Main description:

Frameworks of Choice: Predictive and Genetic Testing in Asia is the first comparative study of predictive and genetic testing in Asia in the English language. It explores genetic and predictive testing in relation to political and social institutions such as education, healthcare, research regulation and genetic governance. It is a unique study of genomic policy-making, grounded in empirical fieldwork in China, Japan, India and Sri Lanka. The volume presents original theoretical analyses of the cultural and political dimensions of predictive and genetic testing by analysing the social, cultural, political and economic environment of choices that people have before and after they undergo a genetic or predictive test. These frameworks of choice also shed light on the different test options of people in developing countries and affluent welfare societies, explaining the so-called therapeutic gap occurring when no therapies are available after diagnosis. .

Contents:

Contents - 6 Acronyms - 8 Acknowledgements - 10 1. Frameworks of Choice - 12 2. A 'Therapeutic Gap' - 28 3. Private and Public Eugenics - 44 4. Population Genetic Screening for Sickle Cell Anaemia among the Rural and Tribal Communities in India - 66 5. Predictive Genetic Testing in India - 92 6. How Japanese Women Describe Their Experiences of Prenatal Testing - 110 7. Cultural Notions of Disability in Japan: Their Influence on Prenatal Testing - 126 8. Genetic Tests and Insurance in Japan: The Case for a Regulatory Framework - 146 9. Genetic Testing for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy in China: Vulnerabilities among Chinese Families - 168 10. Ramification of Choice? - 184 11. Genetic Testing and Diet related Disease in Asia: Preventing Diseases or Misleading Marketing? - 202 12. The Asian Genome: Racing in an Age of Pharmacogenomics - 212 13. Discussion: Predictive and Genetic Testing in Asian and International Contexts - 224 Contributors - 236 Bibliography - 238 Index - 257