Genetic Crossroads : The Middle East and the Science of Human Heredity

The Middle East plays a major role in the history of genetic science. Early in the twentieth century, technological breakthroughs in human genetics coincided with the birth of modern Middle Eastern nation-states, who proclaimed that the region's ancient history―as a cradle of civilizations and crossroads of humankind―was preserved in the bones and blood of their citizens. Using letters and publications from the 1920s to the present, Elise K. Burton follows the field expeditions and hospital surveys that scrutinized the bodies of tribal nomads and religious minorities. These studies, geneticists claim, not only detect the living descendants of biblical civilizations but also reveal the deeper past of human evolution. __Genetic Crossroads__ is an unprecedented history of human genetics in the Middle East, from its roots in colonial anthropology and medicine to recent genome sequencing projects. It illuminates how scientists from Turkey to Yemen, Egypt to Iran, transformed genetic data into territorial claims and national origin myths. Burton shows why such nationalist appropriations of genetics are not local or temporary aberrations, but rather the enduring foundations of international scientific interest in Middle Eastern populations to this day. "This book is the first history of the science of human genetics in the Middle East, from its roots in colonial anthropology and medicine to present-day genomic projects. Genetic Nationalism reveals the effects of international genetic discourses on Middle Eastern nationalisms and the significance of Middle Eastern genetics to the international scientific community. This book illuminates how genetic research simultaneously promotes national interests in the global community and enforces colonialism at home. Elise Burton reveals the political, social, and technological processes that have shaped genetic research in the twentieth century, tracing the global incorporation of nationalist historical narratives and identities into the broader understanding of human evolution"-- Provided by publisher Cover Contents List of Abbreviations Note on Transliteration Acknowledgments Introduction: An Uneasy Inheritance PART I. R ACE AND N ATION 1 Drastic Measurements 2 Truth Serum PART II. MEDICINE A S ANTHROPOLOGY 3 The Traffic in Blood 4 Sickling Sociologies 5 Genes Against Beans PART III. COLONIAL AND ETHNIC VIOLENCE 6 Collection Agents 7 Domesticating Diversity Conclusion: Genomes Without Borders? Notes Bibliography Index A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W Y Z