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What brings me to this blog is the slow unraveling and decoding of impermeable DNA as the “master molecule,” and its re-winding and re-coding into something a bit…squishier.

Some past research has shown that DNA isn’t a biological master at all; it is only a small element in a larger organismic system of parts. Newer research into epigenetics is (slowly) making headway in this direction, but the metaphor of “master molecule” still remains tightly bound with epigenetic discourse, and with popular discourse about the gene.

DeCODEme offers us a chance to experiment with how this metaphor is both (re)constituted and (re)imagined by the users of the service. One example of this which Grant has already posted is deCODEd people who use their genetic profile to form “r1b pride” groups. This is particularly interesting because biologically-justified racism has been around for quite a while, and this appears to be more of the same. The rhetoric has changed, shifting from race/ethnic group to “haplogroup,” sterilizing its implications in scientific language. But what else makes it different from its previous incarnations? To say that it’s “all in the genes” might be a bit too ironic for this blog. More on this later…

In other news, deCODE just laid off 60 people, out of its workforce of 390. Apparently, business is bad. You can help by donating so we can contribute to their bankrolls (and by voting for Grant)!