Queer Mutants: Modes to Cultivate Genetic Resistance

Improvements in genetic testing and the dawn of the genomic era have resulted in the emergence new disease identities for those diagnosed as mutants. While the genomic era promises profound improvements in healthcare, this paradigm shift cannot escape medicine's longstanding history of violence and oppression for those trapped as an object of its gaze. Examining the entanglements between cultural media, clinical praxis, and the politics surrounding Hereditary Breast and Ovarian Cancer Syndrome, this talk explores how acts of "self-care", as a method of social and creative resistance, can give way to critical examinations about how and why particular bodies are regarded with suspicion and distrust, influencing contemporary issues in healthcare and biopolitics around the world.