SOC GEN 160Politics of Heredity
Society and Genetics · 4 units · Undergraduate upper division (100-199)
Exploration of intersection of politics and genetics in liberal democracies and totalitarian regimes. How genetics has been used to consolidate and undermine political authority, and how political authority has been employed to both promote and restrict genetics. Consideration of several historical episodes such as rise to power in Soviet Union of T.D. Lysenko, peasant agronomist who rejected Mendelism in favor of quasi-Lamarckian approach to genetics; participation of geneticists in creation of racial state in Nazi Germany; and debates over compulsory sterilization of mental defectives in U.S., Canada, and Europe from 1920s to 1940s. Contemporary cases such as controversies over genetically modified foods and regulation and governance of reprogenetic technologies, and rise of disease advocacy groups as important players in determining funding and direction of genetic research.
Letter grading.
When it runs
Not on the schedule for any of Fall 2025 through Spring 2027. UCLA publishes only that window, so this does not mean the course is gone — check the official listing.
Requisites
UCLA lists no requisites for this course.
Requires
Everything that has to come before this course, not just the courses named in the requisite above.
Nothing — this is an entry point.
Unlocks
What this course is a requisite for, and what those courses lead to in turn.
No course in the catalog lists this as a requisite.