Paper short abstract:

Drawing on ethnographic research in the south of Brazil this paper reflects on efforts to constitute cancer genetics, particularly related to breast cancer risk, as part of public health interventions. It examines the socio-cultural dynamics by which ‘prevention’ and ‘clinical need’ are being constituted in relation to genomics in this context.

Paper long abstract:

Drawing on ethnographic research in the south of Brazil this paper reflects on the social and cultural context of recent efforts to constitute cancer genetics as part of public health interventions, particularly as this relates to breast cancer risk. It will reflect on the process by which patients, families and clinicans engage and participate in these developments and also the way that novel technological interventions such as genetic testing traverse the fluid space of transnational research and the shifting ground of public health in Brazil. In this way the paper examines the soci-cultural dynamics and tensions by which 'prevention' and 'clinical need' are being constituted through recourse to a novel genomic interventions and in the context of an emerging and expanding economy such as Brasil.