THE ETHICS OF BIOTECHNOLOGY IN CUBA: A SOCIO-ANTHROPOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE ON THE BIOMEDICALIZATION PROCESS

Abstract

Biotechnology is at the heart of the development project
carried out by the Cuban revolutionary government. This
process is characterized by a ‘closed-cycle’ organization of
R&D. It is mediated by an ethics giving priority to researches
that permits to better the health system. This ethics also
translates into research practices, which are strongly affected
by shortages. Being articulated with the health system, the
biotechnology sector is producing transformations that
entail specific stakes. By inscribing the Cuban context into
a process of biomedicalization, we will discuss stakes related
to the management of public health priorities, clinical
trials, and the transformation of the experience of illness.