ABSTRACT

Scientific advances in genetic analysis have been made possible in recent years by technical developments in computational biology, or bioinformatics. Bioinformatics has opened up the human genome to diverse analyses involving automated laboratory hardware and machine learning algorithms and software. As part of an emerging field of social genomics, recent educational genetics studies using big data have begun to raise challenging findings linking DNA to predicted life outcomes. Bioinformatic technologies and techniques including ‘genome-wide association’ and ‘polygenic scoring’ are producing new kinds of genetic biodata and expert knowledge for rethinking the upbringing and education of children. This article takes as an empirical opening a recent epistemic and ethical controversy over the use of biodata to make genetic predictions about educational, socio-economic and life outcomes, detailing the forms of expert knowledge and technologies involved these predictions, and exploring the social and ethical implications of data-intensive bioinformatics.

摘要

近年来，由于计算生物学或生物信息学的技术发展，使得基因分析的科学进步成为可能。生物信息学已经向人类基因组开放了涉及自动化实验室硬件以及机器学习算法和软件的各种分析。作为社会基因组学一个新兴领域的一部分，最近使用大数据的教育遗传学研究已经开始提出具有挑战性的发现，这些发现将DNA与预期的生命结局联系起来。包括“全基因组关联”和“多基因评分”在内的生物信息技术正在产生新的遗传生物数据和专家知识，以重新考虑儿童的养育和教育。