This study will focus on one of the leading companies in the DTC genealogy genetic testing industry – AncestryDNA – and aims to examine the ways in which AncestryDNA frames the concept of human ancestry and the cultural, social, and psychological meanings it associates it with. The author argues that AncestryDNA frames ancestry as s treasure trove full of information about an individual's ancestral lineage by blurring the limitations of DNA testing, along with the portrayal of ancestry as a crucial part in self-realization, building one's identity (discovering oneself), and achieving a sense of belonging to a group.
Due to scientific progressions made in genetic data collection and analysis in the last two decades, genetic testing has become more affordable and increasingly available. This fact has contributed to the emergence of a new privatized, capitalist and internet-based form of direct-to-consumer (DTC) genetic testing services. DTC genetic tests have been rapidly gaining popularity over the last few years with several millions' genetic data already collected in DTC companies' commercial data bases. This study will focus on DTC companies that offer genetic tests for genealogy and ancestry due to the popular surge in purchases of genealogy DTC DNA tests during the last few years.
According to an article published in The MIT Technology Review Journal on February 11, 2019, approximately 26 million individuals in The United States alone, have purchased and taken a genealogy genetic test from a DTC genetic testing company by the year 2019. The public interest in DNA as an informative tool regarding health, ancestry and more, is attributed, according to the article, to the "heavy TV and online marketing" by DTC genetic companies that have led to "a record year [2019] for sales."
Inhaltsverzeichnis (Table of Contents)
- Introduction.
- Theoretical Background & Literature Review.
- The commercialization and Commodification of Health and Genetic Data
- Ancestry and genetics.
- Theoretical framework of analysis.
- Methodology
- Analysis and Findings
- Biologizing Ancestry
- Creating self and identity-related uncertainty around being uninformed about one's ancestral background
- Concluding Remarks and Discussion.
Zielsetzung und Themenschwerpunkte (Objectives and Key Themes)
This study examines the ways in which AncestryDNA frames the process of genetic testing and presents the results to users. The work seeks to understand how this company uses language and visuals to create narratives about personal identity and belonging, focusing specifically on the commodification of personal genetic data in the context of ancestry and genealogy.
- The rise of direct-to-consumer (DTC) genetic testing companies.
- The commodification of personal genetic data.
- The construction of identity and belonging through ancestry testing.
- The role of marketing and advertising in shaping consumer perceptions of genetic testing.
- The potential ethical and social implications of genetic testing and data sharing.
Zusammenfassung der Kapitel (Chapter Summaries)
The introduction provides context for the study, outlining the growth of the DTC genetic testing industry and the increasing popularity of ancestry tests. The theoretical framework chapter reviews relevant literature on the commodification of health and genetic data, explores the relationship between ancestry and genetics, and presents the theoretical framework for analysis. The methodology chapter outlines the research approach, including the data collection and analysis methods employed. The analysis and findings chapter analyzes the language and visuals used by AncestryDNA to frame genetic testing and present results to users, focusing on how the company constructs narratives about identity and belonging. The concluding remarks and discussion chapter summarizes the key findings and discusses their implications for understanding the social and ethical dimensions of DTC genetic testing.
Schlüsselwörter (Keywords)
The central keywords and themes of this work include ancestry, genealogy, ethnic identity, DNA profiling, DTC genetic testing, commodification of personal data, social identity theory, and uncertainty-identity theory.
- Quote paper
- Anonym (Author), 2021, Commodification of Personal Genetic Data by DTC Genetic Testing Companies. The leading company "AncestryDNA", Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/1152541
