Breast Cancer Gene Research and Medical Practices

The discovery of the two inherited susceptibility genes BRCA1 and BRCA2 in the mid-1990s created the possibility of predictive genetic testing and led to the establishment of specific medical programmes for those at high risk of developing breast cancer in the UK, US and Europe. In the intervening fifteen years, the medical institutionalisation of these knowledge-practices and accompanying medical techniques for assessing and managing risk have advanced at a rapid pace across multiple national and transnational arenas, whilst also themselves constituting a highly mobile and shifting terrain.