Genetimes and lifetimes: DNA, new media, and history

Abstract

The last decade has seen the increased use of direct-to-consumer genetic testing for constructing genealogies. These services, offered by companies such as 23andMe, combine biotechnology with new media technologies such as blogging and social networking. Individual consumers are able to construct new identities, communities, and personal histories on the basis of their DNA. Such technology-based and technology-mediated historical reconstructions have the potential to reshape our relationship to the past. In particular, DNA histories entail a particular notion of temporality, specific standards of evidence, and a particular vision of identity. By analyzing the development and use of these new technologies, we can begin to identify specific ways in which biotechnologies and new media technologies are impacting the construction of social memory in the twenty-first century.