Download or read book Albinism in Africa written by Jennifer Kromberg and published by Academic Press. This book was released on 2018-01-02 with total page 358 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Albinism in Africa: Historical, Geographic, Medical, Genetic, and Psychosocial Aspects provides the first in-depth reference for understanding and treating patients of human albinism in Africa. Leading international contributors examine the historical, geographic, psychosocial, genetic and molecular considerations of importance in effectively and sensitively managing this genetic disorder. Foundational chapters covering the historical and psychosocial aspects of albinism are supplemented by discussions of the pathobiology of the disease, as well as a thorough analysis of the genetics of skin pigmentation, eye pigmentation, hair pigmentation, and incidents of skin cancer involved in the manifestations of this disorder. New prenatal diagnostics and genetic testing methods, genetic risk assessment for individuals, families, and communities, and novel genetic markers that may be used for developing new therapeutics for treating albinism are also discussed in detail. The book provides care management approaches that may be applied to instances of albinism in other regions, along with guiding principles for treating rare genetic disorders and stigmatized patient populations across the globe. Includes contributions from leading international contributors who examine the historical, geographic, psychosocial, genetic and molecular aspects of importance in sensitively managing albinism in Africa Discusses recent advances in our understanding of the pathobiology of albinism, while also offering a thorough analysis of the genetics of skin pigmentation, eye pigmentation, hair pigmentation, and rates of skin cancer Highlights new prenatal diagnostics and genetic testing methods and approaches to genetic risk assessment for individuals, families and communities

Download or read book Africa s Gene Revolution written by Matthew A. Schnurr and published by McGill-Queen's Press - MQUP. This book was released on 2019-11-07 with total page 277 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As development donors invest hundreds of millions of dollars into improved crops designed to alleviate poverty and hunger, Africa has emerged as the final frontier in the global debate over agricultural biotechnology. The first data-driven assessment of the ecological, social, and political factors that shape our understanding of genetic modification, Africa's Gene Revolution surveys twenty years of efforts to use genomics-based breeding to enhance yields and livelihoods for African farmers. Matthew Schnurr considers the full range of biotechnologies currently in commercial use and those in development - including hybrids, marker-assisted breeding, tissue culture, and genetic engineering. Drawing on interviews with biotechnology experts alongside research conducted with more than two hundred farmers across eastern, western, and southern Africa, Schnurr reveals a profound incongruity between the optimistic rhetoric that accompanies genetic modification technology and the realities of the smallholder farmers who are its intended beneficiaries. Through the lens of political ecology, this book demonstrates that the current emphasis on improved seeds discounts the geographic, social, ecological, and economic contexts in which the producers of these crops operate. Bringing the voices of farmers to the foreground of this polarizing debate, Africa's Gene Revolution contends that meaningful change will come from a reconfiguration not only of the plant's genome, but of the entire agricultural system.

Download or read book The Genetics of African Populations in Health and Disease written by Muntaser E. Ibrahim and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2019-12-19 with total page 351 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A pioneering work that focuses on the unique diversity of African genetics, offering insights into human biology and genetic approaches.

Download or read book The Cooking Gene written by Michael W. Twitty and published by HarperCollins. This book was released on 2018-07-31 with total page 504 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 2018 James Beard Foundation Book of the Year | 2018 James Beard Foundation Book Award Winner inWriting | Nominee for the 2018 Hurston/Wright Legacy Award in Nonfiction | #75 on The Root100 2018 A renowned culinary historian offers a fresh perspective on our most divisive cultural issue, race, in this illuminating memoir of Southern cuisine and food culture that traces his ancestry—both black and white—through food, from Africa to America and slavery to freedom. Southern food is integral to the American culinary tradition, yet the question of who "owns" it is one of the most provocative touch points in our ongoing struggles over race. In this unique memoir, culinary historian Michael W. Twitty takes readers to the white-hot center of this fight, tracing the roots of his own family and the charged politics surrounding the origins of soul food, barbecue, and all Southern cuisine. From the tobacco and rice farms of colonial times to plantation kitchens and backbreaking cotton fields, Twitty tells his family story through the foods that enabled his ancestors’ survival across three centuries. He sifts through stories, recipes, genetic tests, and historical documents, and travels from Civil War battlefields in Virginia to synagogues in Alabama to Black-owned organic farms in Georgia. As he takes us through his ancestral culinary history, Twitty suggests that healing may come from embracing the discomfort of the Southern past. Along the way, he reveals a truth that is more than skin deep—the power that food has to bring the kin of the enslaved and their former slaveholders to the table, where they can discover the real America together. Illustrations by Stephen Crotts

Download or read book Genetic Afterlives written by Noah Tamarkin and published by Duke University Press. This book was released on 2020-09-11 with total page 178 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 1997, M. E. R. Mathivha, an elder of the black Jewish Lemba people of South Africa, announced to the Lemba Cultural Association that a recent DNA study substantiated their ancestral connections to Jews. Lemba people subsequently leveraged their genetic test results to seek recognition from the post-apartheid government as indigenous Africans with rights to traditional leadership and land, retheorizing genetic ancestry in the process. In Genetic Afterlives, Noah Tamarkin illustrates how Lemba people give their own meanings to the results of DNA tests and employ them to manage competing claims of Jewish ethnic and religious identity, African indigeneity, and South African citizenship. Tamarkin turns away from genetics researchers' results that defined a single story of Lemba peoples' “true” origins and toward Lemba understandings of their own genealogy as multivalent. Guided by Lemba people’s negotiations of their belonging as diasporic Jews, South African citizens, and indigenous Africans, Tamarkin considers new ways to think about belonging that can acknowledge the importance of historical and sacred ties to land without valorizing autochthony, borders, or other technologies of exclusion.

Download or read book Genes for Africa written by Jennifer A. Thomson and published by Juta and Company Ltd. This book was released on 2002 with total page 210 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Jennifer Thomson separates fact from fiction and explains why and how GM crops can help us combat poverty, starvation and disease in the developing world, in a safe and responsible way. She explains the technology and looks at the differences and similarities between genetic modification, conventional plant breeding, and natural processes such as cross pollination and mutations. There are chapters devoted to controversial issues such as food safety (for GM crops and organically grown food), patents labelling, regulations and controls, and a section dealing with frequently-asked questions. It ends with a focus on Africa and possible future developments in GM technology. Technical terms are explained and appendices provide additional information on testing for allergens, horizontal gene transfer, and international food safety assessment documents. For those who wish to explore the subject further, it also provides a list of more than 60 web sites dealing with issues related to the GM debate.

Download or read book Genomics and Health in the Developing World written by Dhavendra Kumar and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2012-05-11 with total page 1536 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Genomics and Health in the Developing World provides detailed and comprehensive coverage of population structures, human genomics, and genome variation--with particular emphasis on medical and health issues--in the emerging economies and countries of the developing world. With sections dedicated to fundamtals of genetics and genomics, epidemiology of human disease, biomarkers, comparative genomics, developments in translational genomic medicine, current and future health strategies related to genetic disease, and pertinent legislative and social factors, this volume highlights the importance of utilizing genetics/genomics knowledge to promote and achieve optimal health in the developing world. Grouped by geographic region, the chapters in this volume address: - Inherited disorders in the developing world, including a thorough look at genetic disorders in minority groups of every continent - The progress of diagnostic laboratory genetic testing, prenatal screening, and genetic counseling worldwide - Rising ethical and legal concerns of medical genetics in the developing world - Social, cultural, and religious issues related to genetic diseases across continents Both timely and vastly informative, this book is a unique and comprehensive resource for genetists, clinicians, and public health professionals interested in the social, ethical, economic, and legal matters associated with medical genetics in the developing world.

Download or read book Everyone is African written by Daniel J. Fairbanks and published by . This book was released on 2015 with total page 194 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "What does science say about race? In this book a ... research geneticist [posits] that traditional notions about distinct racial differences have little scientific foundation. In short, racism is not just morally wrong; it has no basis in fact, [and] the author ... describes in detail the factors that have led to the current scientific consensus about race"--Amazon.com.

Download or read book African Perspectives on Genetic Resources written by Kent Nnadozie and published by Environmental Law Institute. This book was released on 2003 with total page 366 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Africa in the Age of Biology written by Wilmot Godfrey James and published by HSRC Press. This book was released on 2004 with total page 28 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This paper was presented as the first annual John Gerhart Memorial Lecture at the conference of the Africa Genome Initiative held in Cairo in March 2004. In Africa in the Age of Biology, Dr James discusses Africa's long history of scientific, technological and mathematical enterprise, from tokens of the very earliest counting by humans to the sum of knowledge brought to bear in the construction of the pyramids. But he focuses on the challenges of today, and tomorrow, which he suggests Africa's leaders and scholars dare not overlook. Dr James argues that Africa stands challenged to act on its own initiative to focus investment beyond the scale of NEPAD's initiatives, provide political leadership and direct scholarly attention on making the most of genetic developments for the benefit of its populations.

Download or read book Africa the Cradle of Human Diversity written by and published by BRILL. This book was released on 2021-11-22 with total page 341 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book explores important chapters of past and recent African history from a multidisciplinary perspective. It covers an extensive time range from the evolution of early humans to the complex cultural and genetic diversity of modern-day populations in Africa. Through a comprehensive list of chapters, the book focuses on different time-periods, geographic regions and cultural and biological aspects of human diversity across the continent. Each chapter summarises current knowledge with perspectives from a varied set of international researchers from diverse areas of expertise. The book provides a valuable resource for scholars interested in evolutionary history and human diversity in Africa. Contributors are Shaun Aron, Ananyo Choudhury, Bernard Clist, Cesar Fortes-Lima, Rosa Fregel, Jackson S. Kimambo, Faye Lander , Marlize Lombard, Fidelis T. Masao, Ezekia Mtetwa, Gilbert Pwiti, Michèle Ramsay, Thembi Russell, Carina Schlebusch, Dhriti Sengupta, Plan Shenjere-Nyabezi, Mário Vicente.

Download or read book The Enculturated Gene written by Duana Fullwiley and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2011-11-07 with total page 369 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the 1980s, a research team led by Parisian scientists identified several unique DNA sequences, or haplotypes, linked to sickle cell anemia in African populations. After casual observations of how patients managed this painful blood disorder, the researchers in question postulated that the Senegalese type was less severe. The Enculturated Gene traces how this genetic discourse has blotted from view the roles that Senegalese patients and doctors have played in making sickle cell "mild" in a social setting where public health priorities and economic austerity programs have forced people to improvise informal strategies of care. Duana Fullwiley shows how geneticists, who were fixated on population differences, never investigated the various modalities of self-care that people developed in this context of biomedical scarcity, and how local doctors, confronted with dire cuts in Senegal's health sector, wittingly accepted the genetic prognosis of better-than-expected health outcomes. Unlike most genetic determinisms that highlight the absoluteness of disease, DNA haplotypes for sickle cell in Senegal did the opposite. As Fullwiley demonstrates, they allowed the condition to remain officially invisible, never to materialize as a health priority. At the same time, scientists' attribution of a less severe form of Senegalese sickle cell to isolated DNA sequences closed off other explanations of this population's measured biological success. The Enculturated Gene reveals how the notion of an advantageous form of sickle cell in this part of West Africa has defined--and obscured--the nature of this illness in Senegal today. Some images inside the book are unavailable due to digital copyright restrictions.

Download or read book Avenue of Spies written by Alex Kershaw and published by Crown. This book was released on 2016-08-02 with total page 330 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The best-selling author of The Liberator brings to life the incredible true story of an American doctor in Paris, and his heroic espionage efforts during World War II. The leafy Avenue Foch, one of the most exclusive residential streets in Nazi-occupied France, was Paris's hotbed of daring spies, murderous secret police, amoral informers, and Vichy collaborators. So when American physician Sumner Jackson, who lived with his wife and young son Phillip at Number 11, found himself drawn into the Liberation network of the French resistance, he knew the stakes were impossibly high. Just down the road at Number 31 was the "mad sadist" Theodor Dannecker, an Eichmann protégé charged with deporting French Jews to concentration camps. And Number 84 housed the Parisian headquarters of the Gestapo, run by the most effective spy hunter in Nazi Germany. From his office at the American Hospital, itself an epicenter of Allied and Axis intrigue, Jackson smuggled fallen Allied fighter pilots safely out of France, a job complicated by the hospital director's close ties to collaborationist Vichy. After witnessing the brutal round-up of his Jewish friends, Jackson invited Liberation to officially operate out of his home at Number 11—but the noose soon began to tighten. When his secret life was discovered by his Nazi neighbors, he and his family were forced to undertake a journey into the dark heart of the war-torn continent from which there was little chance of return. Drawing upon a wealth of primary source material and extensive interviews with Phillip Jackson, Alex Kershaw recreates the City of Light during its darkest days. The untold story of the Jackson family anchors the suspenseful narrative, and Kershaw dazzles readers with the vivid immediacy of the best spy thrillers. Awash with the tense atmosphere of World War II's Europe, Avenue of Spies introduces us to the brave doctor who risked everything to defy Hitler.

Download or read book African Archaeology written by D. W. Phillipson and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2005-05-05 with total page 407 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Publisher Description

Download or read book The Social Life of DNA written by Alondra Nelson and published by Beacon Press. This book was released on 2016-09-20 with total page 218 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The unexpected story of how genetic testing is affecting race in America We know DNA is a master key that unlocks medical and forensic secrets, but its genealogical life is both revelatory and endlessly fascinating. Tracing genealogy is now the second-most popular hobby amongst Americans, as well as the second-most visited online category. This billion-dollar industry has spawned popular television shows, websites, and Internet communities, and a booming heritage tourism circuit. The tsunami of interest in genetic ancestry tracing from the African American community has been especially overwhelming. In The Social Life of DNA, Alondra Nelson takes us on an unprecedented journey into how the double helix has wound its way into the heart of the most urgent contemporary social issues around race. For over a decade, Nelson has deeply studied this phenomenon. Artfully weaving together keenly observed interactions with root-seekers alongside illuminating historical details and revealing personal narrative, she shows that genetic genealogy is a new tool for addressing old and enduring issues. In The Social Life of DNA, she explains how these cutting-edge DNA-based techniques are being used in myriad ways, including grappling with the unfinished business of slavery: to foster reconciliation, to establish ties with African ancestral homelands, to rethink and sometimes alter citizenship, and to make legal claims for slavery reparations specifically based on ancestry. Nelson incisively shows that DNA is a portal to the past that yields insight for the present and future, shining a light on social traumas and historical injustices that still resonate today. Science can be a crucial ally to activism to spur social change and transform twenty-first-century racial politics. But Nelson warns her readers to be discerning: for the social repair we seek can’t be found in even the most sophisticated science. Engrossing and highly original, The Social Life of DNA is a must-read for anyone interested in race, science, history and how our reckoning with the past may help us to chart a more just course for tomorrow.

Download or read book Ethics Dumping written by Doris Schroeder and published by Springer. This book was released on 2017-12-04 with total page 134 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This open access book provides original, up-to-date case studies of “ethics dumping” that were largely facilitated by loopholes in the ethics governance of low and middle-income countries. It is instructive even to experienced researchers since it provides a voice to vulnerable populations from the fore mentioned countries. Ensuring the ethical conduct of North-South collaborations in research is a process fraught with difficulties. The background conditions under which such collaborations take place include extreme differentials in available income and power, as well as a past history of colonialism, while differences in culture can add a new layer of complications. In this context, up-to-date case studies of unethical conduct are essential for research ethics training.

Download or read book Genetic Variation and Disorders in Peoples of African Origin written by James E. Bowman and published by . This book was released on 1990 with total page 496 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "The most comprehensive treatment of genetic variation and disorders in 'peoples of African origin' yet to appear. It is an encyclopedic work, broad in the scope of its mission and commendable in its achievement." -- American Journal of Human Genetics "This volume is an excellent introduction to an interesting and important topic and is recommended for students, practitioners, and teachers in human genetics, biological anthropology, medicine, the health professions, and biology in general." -- Quarterly Review of Biology The misuse of evidence of genetic differences among human populations to "prove" theories of white supremacy has seriously compromised studies of genetic variation among racial groups. But there is no question, argue James Bowman and Robert Murray, that genetic disorders do vary from one population to another. Emphasizing the positive value of genetic differences, Bowman and Murray offer an overview of the diverse African populations and trace their migrations both within Africa and throughout the world. Topics include skeletal variation, pigmentation, polymorphisms, hemoglobinpathies and thalassemias, malaria, lactose intolerance, multiple births, congenital malformations, hypertension, and diabetes. The authors also explore the ethical and legal implications of genetic counseling for minority populations. Based on a careful survey and collation of the literature as well as on the authors' original research, Genetic Variation and Disorders in Peoples of African Origin provides more information on this subject than has been previously available in a single, concise volume.