Biorrevelações: testes de ancestralidade genética em perspectiva antropológica comparada

Abstract

É cada vez maior o número de empresas que comercializam testes de ancestralidade genética a partir do DNA, sobretudo, na América do Norte. Tal fenômeno tem atraído a atenção das ciências sociais, em particular da antropologia. Neste artigo exploramos, enquanto um estudo de caso e a partir de uma perspectiva antropológica comparativa, os perfis de três empresas situadas em diferentes países: African Ancestry, nos EUA; Oxford Ancestors, na Inglaterra; Laboratório GENE, no Brasil. A partir da análise das suas respectivas páginas eletrônicas e de material divulgado na mídia, o intuito é tomar as duas primeiras como contraponto comparativo à última, de modo a avaliar o que as aproxima e distancia no tocante ao trato concedido ao potencial revelador de seus respectivos testes e, também, com que teor questões como pertença étnica/racial perpassam o merchandising de seus produtos e a sua postura pública. Em um plano mais amplo, argumenta-se que contextos sociopolíticos específicos influenciam as formas como os testes de ancestralidade genética são apresentados e justificados para seus respectivos públicos de consumidores. No caso específico da empresa brasileira, situá-la no panorama histórico-antropológico mais geral sobre "raça" e relações raciais, assim como nos debates correntes sobre o assunto, ajuda-nos a compreender como os testes de ancestralidade são justificados e apresentados à sociedade.<br>There is a growing number of companies in different regions of the world, especially in North America, offering genetic ancestry tests based on DNA. This phenomenon has attracted attention in the social sciences, particularly anthropology. In this paper, we present a case study that explores, based on a comparative anthropological perspective, the profiles of three companies located in different countries that commercialize genetic ancestry tests: African Ancestry, in the United States; Oxford Ancestors, in England; and Laboratório GENE, in Brazil. Based on an analysis of their respective websites and materials released in the media, the objective is to use the first two as a counterpoint to the third in order to evaluate the similarities and differences in how they characterize the revelatory potential of their respective tests. We also explore the manner in which subjects such as ethnic/racial affiliation appear in the merchandising of their products and in their public postures. More broadly, it is emphasized that specific sociopolitical contexts influence the manners in which the genetic ancestry tests are presented and justified for their respective public consumers. In the specific case of the Brazilian company, it is argued that consideration of the broad historical and anthropological panorama of "race" and racial relations, as well as the current debates on the subject, helps us understand how ancestry tests are justified and presented to the public

Of African Descent? Blackness and the Concept of Origins in Cultural Perspective

“…Available online: http://newsforums.bbc.co.uk/ws/thread.jspa?sortBy=1&forumID=3129&start=435&tstart=0#paginator (accessed on 8 August 2014). 19 For a more detailed discussion of the Afro-Brazilian Roots project, and of the altercation between Frei David and Sérgio Danilo Pena, see Neto and Santos (2011).…”

“…The intersection of DNA ancestry with processes of personal identity construction and conceptions of race and ethnicity has been discussed at some length in social science studies focusing on cases from the United States (TallBear 2003;Palmié 2007;Nelson 2008aNelson , 2008bNelson , 2016Roberts 2011;Panofsky and Donovan 2017). Far fewer studies have, so far, examined how these technologies, and the knowledge they produce, have been received and mobilized by users outside the US (Tamarkin 2014)-or compared how the production, branding and interpretations of genetic ancestry data vary among national contexts (Neto and Santos 2011;Pálsson 2012). Nevertheless, a common finding among the works of scholars who have dealt with these questions has been that African genomic ancestry is not always ascribed the same personal or political significance-particularly in non-Anglophone settings-as in the United States (Santos and Maio 2005;Benn Torres 2014;Kent et al 2014).…”

Genomic research, publics and experts in Latin America: Nation, race and body

“…Little research has addressed these issues of the circulation of genetic information in public domains in Latin America (but see Díaz del Castillo Hernández et al, 2012 ; Gaspar Neto and Santos, 2011 ; Kent, 2013 ; Santos et al, 2009 ). The Latin American context is interesting because, as noted above, multiculturalist reforms enacted since 1990 have generated public debate about national identity and diversity, prefigured by earlier critiques of mestizaje as a homogenizing and authoritarian ideology.…”

Genetics against race: Science, politics and affirmative action in Brazil

“… 12. The website of Pena’s commercial laboratory – Laboratorio Gene – features some 200 media items about his research, many of which relate to race and quotas ( Gaspar Neto et al, 2012 ). …”