Facing genetics An ethnography of race in forensic DNA phenotyping practices

In this dissertation Hopman ethnographically explores forensic DNA phenotyping (FDP), a set of technologies used to predict aspects of an unknown suspect’s physical appearance from biological materials found at crime scenes, with traits such as eye, hair, and skin color, biogeographical ancestry and facial shape predicted from DNA traces. While FDP is presented as ultimately being aimed at predicting individual-specific facial composites, through four empirical chapters Hopman shows that these technologies rather produce collectives of suspects, and bring into being different versions of race.
Seeing the loaded histories around race in science, genetics in particular, “race” is a term geneticists rather steer clear of. Indeed, Hopman shows that geneticists in the field of FDP actively remove themselves from any connotations with race or racial science through temporal and spatial distancing. Temporally, race is said to have been left behind in the past, with methods in contemporary laboratories having moved beyond race. Spatially, race is taken to become relevant only when results of genetical analyses have left the lab and come to be used by criminal investigators or are circulated in society.
Building on ethnographic fieldwork conducted in (forensic) genetic laboratories to move beyond the talk of geneticists, Facing Genetics demonstrates that these distancing moves cannot prevent race from surfacing in practices. With the analytical themes temporalities and techniques, translations and categorizations, and individuality and accuracy, Hopman articulates the absent presence of race in FDP practices, calling for geneticists to come face to face with race.