346 RüdigerKunow
genetic explanations are given for all kinds of non-normative bodily
conditionsandbehavioralpatterns.^33 Theircorrectioncanproceedalong
various routes, through gene cutting and splicing, genetic screening,
genetic therapy, etc. Together with the emergence of new specialist
fields of knowledge and application, such as pharmacogenomics and
personalizedmedicinementionedabove(Clarkeetal.,"Technoscientific
Transformations"69,78-80;Dumit68-69),"wearewitnessingawhole-
scale geneticization of identity with the consequent reduction of the
human subject to a mere expression of their genetic complement.. ."
(N.Rose,PoliticsofLife109).
Whereas previously medicine was by and large an on-demand
business seeking to control and contain defined bodily malfunctions, its
updatedgeneticversionhasbecome,atleasttendentiallyso,aproactive
project. Re-engineering human life on the basis of its genetic
endowment has a dimension that spans not a single human being but
many, not one generation but the following ones as well: Chapman and
Frankel are calling this "designing our descendants" (qtd. in Clarke et
al., "Theoretical and Substantive Introduction" 19). Gene transfer at the
embryonic stage would be a step toward producing what is often
polemically called "designer children" with desirable features, not only
phenotypal characteristics or body build but also other, rather
intellectual, abilities. Such an "enhanced" child could well be expected
tohavecertainadvantagesoverotherswhosegenomicmake-updoesnot
include the desired optimizations. If these developments continue, we
may soon see a future where "genetic shopping lists" (Mamo 186) will
determinewhatkindsofbabieswillbeborn.^34
There is thus an element ofbiological providentialisminvolved in
this new semantics of human life, where everything that happens to a
humanbeingacrossthelifespanisinastrongmeasurepre-ordainedby
thesemioticchainofthehumangenome.Inthisway,molecularbiology
(^33) Thismightbeseenaspartofanoverallculturaltrend,inSusanSontag'sview
"avastexpansionofthecategoryofillnessassuch"sothat"everyformofsocial
deviancecanbeconsideredanillness"(IllnessasMetaphor56).
(^34) I do not wish to suggest here that all this is without precedent. Pre-natal
diagnostics are already a well-established branch of medical practice which
clearlyguidesthechoicesofparentstobe.