Bioinformation

Product Description

From DNA sequences stored on computer databases to archived forensic samples & biomedical records bioinformation comes in many forms Its unique provenance
- the fact that it is 'mined' from the very fabric of the human body
- makes it a mercurial resource; one that no one seemingly owns but in which many have deeply vested interests Who has the right to exploit & benefit from bioinformation? The individual or community from whom it was derived? The scientists & technicians who make its extraction both possible & meaningful or the commercial & political interests which fund this work? Who is excluded or even at risk from its commercialisation? & what threats & opportunities might the generation of ' Big Bioinformational Data' raise? In this groundbreaking book authors Bronwyn Parry & Beth Greenhough explore the complex economic social & political questions arising from the creation & use of bioinformation Drawing on a range of highly topical cases including the commercialization of human sequence data; the forensic use of retained bioinformation; biobanking & genealogical research they show how demand for this resource has grown significantly driving a burgeoning but often highly controversial global economy in bioinformation But they argue change is afoot as new models emerge that challenge the ethos of privatisation by creating instead a dynamic open source 'bioinformational commons' available for all future generations