Geneticization is a term that has been widely used by critics of

genetic medicine Medical genetics is the branch tics in that human genetics is a field of scientific research that may or may not apply to medicine, while medical genetics refers to the application of genetics to medical care. For example, research on the caus ...

since the early 1990s. Originally coined by

Abby Lippman Abby Lippman (December 11, 1939 – December 26, 2017) was a Canadian feminist and epidemiologist who served as a professor in the Department of Epidemiology, Biostatistics and Occupational Health at McGill University. She was known for her advoc ...

in a series of three papers published in the 1990s (specifically in 1991, 1992, and 1994), geneticization refers to the increasing tendency to define differences between individuals as largely or entirely due to

genetics Genetics is the study of genes, genetic variation, and heredity in organisms.Hartl D, Jones E (2005) It is an important branch in biology because heredity is vital to organisms' evolution. Gregor Mendel, a Moravian Augustinian friar worki ...

. This includes the growing framing and understanding of human diseases and behaviors in genetic terms.

Henk A. M. J. ten Have Henk Antonius Maria Johannes ten Have (born 1951) is Professor emeritus at the Center for Healthcare Ethics at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh, U.S.A. where he has been Director since 2010. Previously, he served in UNESCO as Director of the Divi ...

has defined geneticization as "...a

heuristic A heuristic (; ), or heuristic technique, is any approach to problem solving or self-discovery that employs a practical method that is not guaranteed to be optimal, perfect, or rational, but is nevertheless sufficient for reaching an immediat ...

tool that can help to re-focus the moral debate on the implications of new genetic knowledge towards interpersonal relations, the power of medicine, the cultural context and social constraints, rather than emphasizing issues as personal autonomy and individual rights." It is common for social scientists and bioethicists to argue that geneticization leads to a growing belief in

genetic determinism Biological determinism, also known as genetic determinism, is the belief that human behaviour is directly controlled by an individual's genes or some component of their physiology, generally at the expense of the role of the environment, whether ...

and essentialism in the general public, and that this, in turn, increases discrimination, stigma, and

inequality Inequality may refer to: Economics * Attention inequality, unequal distribution of attention across users, groups of people, issues in etc. in attention economy * Economic inequality, difference in economic well-being between population groups * ...

. When Lippman originally coined the term "geneticization", for example, she was concerned about the potential for geneticization to increase public belief in biological essentialism, thereby reinforcing racism and discrimination against people with

disabilities Disability is the experience of any condition that makes it more difficult for a person to do certain activities or have equitable access within a given society. Disabilities may be cognitive, developmental, intellectual, mental, physical, se ...

. Some proponents of the heuristic of geneticization also argue that the media's coverage of genetics contributes to geneticization. However, the empirical evidence on the link between geneticization and genetic determinism, and between genetic determinism, discrimination and inequality, is ambiguous, suggesting that the phenomenon of geneticization may not always follow the simple pattern that proponents of the concept ascribe to it.

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