Flattening and Unpacking Human Genetic Variation in Mexico, Postwar to Present

Abstract

Argument This paper analyzes the research strategies of three different cases in the study of human genetics in Mexico - the work of Rubén Lisker in the 1960s, INMEGEN's mapping of Mexican genomic diversity between 2004 and 2009, and the analysis of Native American variation by Andrés Moreno and his colleagues in contemporary research. We make a distinction between an approach that incorporates multiple disciplinary resources into sampling design and interpretation (unpacking), from one that privileges pragmatic considerations over more robust multidisciplinary analysis (flattening). These choices have consequences for social, demographic, and biomedical practices, and also for accounts of genetic variation in human populations. While the former strategy unpacks fine-grained genetic variation - favoring precision and realism, the latter tends to flatten individual differences and historical depth in lieu of generalization.

Shortcut to success? Negotiating genetic uniqueness in global biomedicine

“…As in Mexico (Anaya-Muñoz et al, 2017), the Finnish population has been studied using different sampling strategies and statistical methods. Studies on Mexican populations have drawn on two approaches; the first strategy ‘ unpacks fine-grained genetic variation – favoring precision and realism’, while ‘the latter tends to flatten individual differences and historical depth in lieu of generalization’.…”

“…Studies on Mexican populations have drawn on two approaches; the first strategy ‘ unpacks fine-grained genetic variation – favoring precision and realism’, while ‘the latter tends to flatten individual differences and historical depth in lieu of generalization’. Indeed, the first approach ‘incorporates multiple disciplinary resources into sampling design and interpretation’, while the second ‘privileges pragmatic considerations over more robust multidisciplinary analysis’ (Anaya-Muñoz et al, 2017: 89). Similarly, in Finland, the work on FDH and monogenetic diseases simultaneously produced a population history that highlighted uniqueness and isolation (Tupasela, 2016).…”

Flattening and Unpacking Human Genetic Variation in Mexico, Postwar to the Present

“…In a recent paper, Anaya-Muñoz, et al has argued that two perspectives have characterized the exploration of Mexican genomic diversity from a biomedical point of view: what they call the "flattening" and the "unpacking" research strategies [9]. Each is characterized by methodological assumptions that permeate the sampling design, result analysis and conclusions drawn from the genomic (or genetic) explorations performed.…”

“…The point raised by Anaya-Muñoz et al [9] makes the case for the foremost importance of the epistemological assumptions supporting pharmaco-genomic research. As they claim, "[s]cientists' choices […] have consequences not just for accounts of genetic variation in human populations, but on social, demographic and biomedical practices as well" (2017, 109).…”