Me Medicine vs. We Medicine: Reclaiming Biotechnology for the Common Good

Me Medicine vs. We Medicine: Reclaiming Biotechnology for the Common Good
ISBN-10
0231159749
ISBN-13
9780231159746
Category
Medical
Pages
296
Language
English
Published
2013-05-28
Publisher
Columbia University Press
Author
Donna Dickenson

Description

Technologies such as direct-to-consumer genetic testing, pharmacogenetically developed therapies in cancer care, private umbilical cord blood banking, and neurocognitive enhancement claim to cater to an individual's specific biological character, and, in some cases, these technologies have shown powerful potential. Yet in others they have produced negligible or even negative results. Donna Dickenson examines the economic and political factors fueling the Me Medicine phenomenon and explores how, over time, this paradigm shift in how we approach our health might damage our individual and collective well-being. Drawing on the latest findings from leading scientists, social scientists, and political analysts, she critically examines four possible hypotheses driving the Me Medicine moment: a growing sense of threat; a wave of patient narcissism; corporate interests driving new niche markets; and the dominance of personal choice as a cultural value. She concludes with insights from political theory that emphasize a conception of the commons and the steps we can take to restore its value to modern biotechnology.

Other editions

Similar books