From Genetic Profile to Genetic Portrait: Path Dependence in Forensic DNA Technologies

Authors

  • Ariel Sánchez-Zúñiga Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM). Estudiante de maestría, Posgrado en Filosofía de la Ciencia
  • Vivette García-Deister Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM). Profesora Asociada Facultad de Ciencias https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4207-5783

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18270/rcfc.v18i37.2577

Keywords:

contingency, forensic genetics, justice, technological determinism

Abstract

This paper aims to show the relevance of history for explaining the development of forensic dna technologies and the standardization of their judicial use. Our description of the trajectory that the dna profile has followed, and of the epistemic tasks it has been assigned since 1984 to the present, allows us to characterize it as a historical entity with path dependence. We also reflect on the place that the novel technique of dna phenotyping occupies within this trajectory. In emphasizing the relevance of contingency in the path of forensic dna we take a position with respect to the relationship between history and philosophy of science, for inclusion of contingency as resource for explaining technoscientific developments means recognizing that they are dynamic processes in which sequences of events are causally related.

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Author Biographies

Ariel Sánchez-Zúñiga, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM). Estudiante de maestría, Posgrado en Filosofía de la Ciencia

Bachelor of English Letters and Biologist. Areas: Social Studies of Science and Technology (STS); philosophy of technology; migration.

Vivette García-Deister, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM). Profesora Asociada Facultad de Ciencias

Philosophical and social studies of science and technology; epistemologies of biomedical and forensic genetics; racism, health and justice.

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Published

2018-12-27

How to Cite

Sánchez-Zúñiga, A., & García-Deister, V. (2018). From Genetic Profile to Genetic Portrait: Path Dependence in Forensic DNA Technologies. Revista Colombiana De Filosofía De La Ciencia, 18(37), 273–292. https://doi.org/10.18270/rcfc.v18i37.2577

Issue

Vol. 18 No. 37 (2018): Special Issue: History and Philosophy of Science

Section

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