Bioinformation

Bronwyn Parry is Professor in the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine at King's College, London. Beth Greenhough is Associate Professor in Human Geography at the School of Geography and the Environment, University of Oxford.

• ContentsAcknowledgementsList of Abbreviations1 Genesis: What is Bioinformation?2 Provenance: Where does bioinformation come from?3 Property: Who owns Bioinformation?4 Markets: Who consumes Bioinformation?5 The Big Data Revolution6 Bioinfomatic Futures: The datafication of everything?Selected readings

"Data sciences and life sciences are deeply intertwined and bio information enjoys all the leverage and easy circulation of other kinds of data. Yet bio information is never quite disentangled from its donors, the real human lives that make it meaningful. This study is an invaluable guide to the vicissitudes of living data in all their social complexity."—Catherine Waldby, Australian National University"Bioinformation is a detailed and accessible analysis of how data and information derived from humans and other living organisms are used to create value, meaning and profits. A refreshing alternative to starry-eyed celebrations of the opportunities of big data, it shows how the collection and use of bioinformation affects the distribution of power and other resources in our societies."—Barbara Prainsack, King's College London"Bronwyn Parry and Beth Greenhough's Bioinformation is a brief yet rich tour of a dynamic, complex field, following the winding paths that connect databases to the hopes and rights of the people and communities from whose bodies the information was drawn."—New Scientist"Bioinformation offers an interesting, readable introduction to its subject matter, while suggesting promising avenues that future research might explore"—Bionews"This slim but informative book describes the sources of what the authors call 'bioinformation' and the current and possible future beneficial uses of such data, ...."—Foreign Affairs