The emergence of human population genetics and narratives about the formation of the Brazilian nation (1950-1960)
Copyright
open access
Type
Article
Date
2014
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Elsevier
Alternative Title
Affilliation
Universidade Estadual do Centro-Oeste, ParanĆ”, Brasil
FundaĆ§Ć£o Oswaldo Cruz. Escola Nacional de SaĆŗde PĆŗblica SĆ©rgio Arouca. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil / Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro. Museu Nacional. Departamento de Antropologia. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil
FundaĆ§Ć£o Oswaldo Cruz. Escola Nacional de SaĆŗde PĆŗblica SĆ©rgio Arouca. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil / Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro. Museu Nacional. Departamento de Antropologia. Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil
Advisor
Co-Advisor
Committee Member
Organizer
Coordinator(s)
Institutional author
Director
item.page.production
Screenplay
Producer
Recorder
Abstract
Abstract
This paper discusses the emergence of human population genetics in Brazil in the decades following World War II, and pays particular attention to narratives about the formation of the Brazilian nation. We analyze the institutionalization of this branch of genetics in the 1950s and 1960s, and look at research on the characteristics of the population of Brazil, which made use of new explanatory models of evolutionary dynamics. These developments were greatly influenced by the activities of the Rockefeller Foundation and by the presence of North American geneticists in Brazil, especially Theodosius Dobzhansky. One of the main points of this paper is to show that explanations of Brazilian human genetic diversity constructed in the mid-twentieth century closely followed interpretations that had been produced since the end of the nineteenth century, in which notions of 'racial mixing' played a central role. Even as population genetics was conditioned by nationalist concerns that had long marked Brazilian history, we argue that its emergence and institutionalization was closely associated with global, post-World War II socio-political contexts, especially with regards to modernization projects and growing scientific internationalization.
Abstract in Spanish
Abstract in French
Description
Keywords in Portuguese
Brasil, GenĆ©tica Humana, VariaĆ§Ć£o genĆ©tica, Pesquisa em GenĆ©tica, Teoria da EvoluĆ§Ć£o
Keywords
Keywords in Spanish
Keywords in French
DeCS
Pesquisa em GenĆ©tica, Brasil, VariaĆ§Ć£o genĆ©tica, GenĆ©tica Humana, Antropologia FĆsica
Event Date
Previous version
Related Document
Means of dissemination
Duration
Duration
Original color system
Target audience context
Audience occupation
Educational Description
Evaluation
Peer Reviewed
Publication Status
Sponsorship
Latest version
Version
Event Location
Event title
Event Type
Citation
SOUZA, Vanderlei SebastiĆ£o de ; SANTOS, Ricardo Ventura. The emergence of human population genetics and narratives about the formation of the Brazilian nation (1950-1960). Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences, v. 47, p. 97-107, 2014.
ISBN
ISSN
1879-2499
DOI
10.1016/j.shpsc.2014.05.010