Building Genetic Medicine: Breast Cancer, Technology, and the Comparative Politics of Health Care

Parthasarathy, Shobita

ISBN 10: 0262517477 / ISBN 13: 9780262517478

Published by MIT Press, 2012

Pages are clean and are not marred by notes or folds of any kind. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less. Seller Inventory # G0262517477I2N00

Synopsis:

A comparative study of genetic testing for breast and ovarian cancer in the United States and Britain that shows the importance of national context in the development and use of science and technology even in an era of globalization.

In Building Genetic Medicine, Shobita Parthasarathy shows how, even in an era of globalization, national context is playing an important role in the development and use of genetic technologies. Focusing on the development and deployment of genetic testing for breast and ovarian cancer (known as BRCA testing) in the United States and Britain, Parthasarathy develops a comparative analysis framework in order to investigate how national "toolkits" shape both regulations and the architectures of technologies and uses this framework to assess the implications of new genetic technologies.

Parthasarathy argues that differences in the American and British approaches to health care and commercialization of research led to the establishment of different BRCA services in the two countries. In Britain, the technology was available through the National Health Service as an integrated program of counseling and laboratory analysis, and was viewed as a potentially cost-effective form of preventive care. In the United States, although BRCA testing was initially offered by a number of providers, one company eventually became the sole provider of a test available to consumers on demand.

Parthasarathy draws lessons for the future of genetic medicine from these cross-national differences, and discusses the ways in which comparative case studies can inform policy-making efforts in science and technology.

About the Author: Shobita Parthasarathy is Associate Professor at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy at the University of Michigan.

Bibliographic Details

Title: Building Genetic Medicine: Breast Cancer, ...
Publisher: MIT Press
Publication Date: 2012
Binding: Paperback
Condition: As New
Dust Jacket Condition: No Jacket