Drawing insights from history, sociology, and anthropology, this course will examine the rise of precision medicine and its sociomedical implications. An emerging biomedical paradigm, the aim of precision medicine is to develop individually tailored approaches to disease prevention and treatment through the integration of genomic and other molecular sciences into research and practice. The course will explore the promises that have underpinned major worldwide investments in the precision approach, interrogate the concept of "precision" and the semantic work it performs within medicine and beyond, investigate the paradigm's implications for understandings of race and other key forms of human difference, and examine the challenges it presents for the pursuit of health justice. |