Social Life of DNA

<b>The unexpected story of how genetic testing is affecting race in America <p/></b>We know DNA is a master key that unlocks medical and forensic secrets but its genealogical life is both revelatory and endlessly fascinating. Tracing genealogy is now the second-most popular hobby amongst Americans as well as the second-most visited online category. This billion-dollar industry has spawned popular television shows websites and Internet communities and a booming heritage tourism circuit. <p/>The tsunami of interest in genetic ancestry tracing from the African American community has been especially overwhelming. In <i>The Social Life of DNA</i> Alondra Nelson takes us on an unprecedented journey into how the double helix has wound its way into the heart of the most urgent contemporary social issues around race. <p/>For over a decade Nelson has deeply studied this phenomenon. Artfully weaving together keenly observed interactions with root-seekers alongside illuminating historical details and revealing personal narrative she shows that genetic genealogy is a new tool for addressing old and enduring issues. In <i>The Social Life of DNA</i> she explains how these cutting-edge DNA-based techniques are being used in myriad ways including grappling with the unfinished business of slavery: to foster reconciliation to establish ties with African ancestral homelands to rethink and sometimes alter citizenship and to make legal claims for slavery reparations specifically based on ancestry. <p/>Nelson incisively shows that DNA is a portal to the past that yields insight for the present and future shining a light on social traumas and historical injustices that still resonate today. Science can be a crucial ally to activism to spur social change and transform twenty-first-century racial politics. But Nelson warns her readers to be discerning: for the social repair we seek can't be found in even the most sophisticated science. Engrossing and highly original <i>The Social Life of DNA</i> is a must-read for anyone interested in race science history and how our reckoning with the past may help us to chart a more just course for tomorrow.