The fluidity of biosocial identity and the effects of place, space, and time. (February 2018)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Wiese, Daniel; Rodriguez Escobar, Jeronimo; Hsu, Yohsiang; Kulathinal, Rob J.; Hayes-Conroy, Allison
• Is Part Of: Social science & medicine. Volume 198(2018)
• Page Start: 46
• Page End: 52
• Publication Date: 2018-02
• Subjects: Identity -- Biosocial -- Phenotypic prediction -- Epigenetics -- Metagenomics -- Biography; Social medicine -- Periodicals; Medical anthropology -- Periodicals; Public health -- Periodicals; Psychology -- Periodicals; Medicine -- Periodicals; Medicine -- Periodicals; Médecine sociale -- Périodiques; Anthropologie médicale -- Périodiques; Santé publique -- Périodiques; Psychologie -- Périodiques; Médecine -- Périodiques; Electronic journals; 362.105
• DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2017.12.023
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0277-9536

Abstract

Abstract: Public and scientific conceptions of identity are changing alongside advances in biotechnology, with important relevance to health and medicine. In particular, biological identity, once predominantly conceived as static (e.g., related to DNA, dental records, fingerprints) is now being recognized as dynamic or fluid, mirroring contemporary understandings of psychological and social identity. The dynamism of biological identity comes from the individual body's unique relationship with the world surrounding it, and therefore may best be described as biosocial. This paper reviews advances in scientific understandings of identity and presents a model that contrasts prior static approaches to biological identity from more recent dynamically-relational ones. This emerging viewpoint is of broad significance to health and medicine, particularly as medicine recognizes the significance of biography – i.e. the multiple, dense interactions imparted on a body across spatio-temporal dimensions – to phenotypic prediction, especially disease risk. Highlights: Older models of biological identity have tended to be static. A fluid model of biological, or more accurately, biosocial identity is proposed. Biosocial identity emerges from the relational uniqueness of each individual body. Relational uniqueness is recognized as germane to phenotypic prediction.