© Imagemore Co., Ltd./CorbisChallenge Issue The genetics revolution has given new meaning to human
identity. Police identify criminals through DNA fingerprinting and maintain DNA
databases of convicts and suspects for solving crimes in the future. Others wrongfully
imprisoned for many years have been freed after genetic testing. But the thornier
issue in genetics is whether genes can predispose an individual to criminal behav-
ior. Do our genes determine our actions? Some scientists argue that biology controls
behavior because of hints found in the genome, the complete sequence of human
DNA. These new theories are dangerously similar to those proposed in the late 19th
and early 20th centuries, as they do not take into account the social and politi-
cal environments in which genes are ultimately expressed. As we learn more about
the human genetic code, will we reshape our understanding of what it means to be
human? How much of our lives are dictated by the structure of DNA? And what will
be the social consequences of depicting people as beings programmed by their DNA?
Individuals and societies can answer these challenging questions using an anthropo-
logical perspective, which emphasizes the connections between human biology and
culture.