Analyzing asymmetries and praxis in aDNA research: A bioanthropological critique

Recent developments in molecular‐biology‐oriented studies regarding ancient DNA (aDNA) from human remains have brought into the contemporary discussions within archaeologists, bioanthropologists, and geneticists a set of disputes, tensions, and collaborations that need to be analyzed in practical and epistemological terms. We emphasize the relevance that techno‐scientific collaborations have in this context focused mainly on human evolution and the peopling of the world. These international academic collaborations constitute an ecology in which aDNA studies are currently being worked out. An ecosystem that reproduces the geo‐political‐economic asymmetries within science, and more specifically in aDNA research, which in turn opens the possibility for thinking from an ethical and epistemological perspective about the economic and power differentials and imbalances of these asymmetric relationships. We argue for building a critical conceptual tool kit in order to tackle the problematics emerging from such investigations. We propose and define three core concepts: academic sovereignty, sustainability, and intermediary. Additionally, we offer the term academic vulnerability as a consequence of cultural vulnerability. The frame we offer here provides a structure to interrogate the dynamics of vulnerabilities in the current context of scientific praxis within aDNA research and illustrate the interplay between hegemonic science and the heritage of developing countries. Resumen Los desarrollos científicos recientes orientados desde la biología molecular al estudio del ADN antiguo (ADNa) de restos humanos han generado entre arqueólogos, antropólogos biológicos y genetistas un conjunto de disputas, tensiones y colaboraciones que deben analizarse en términos epistemológicos y de prácticas científicas. Aquí destacamos la relevancia que tienen las colaboraciones tecno‐científicas centradas principalmente en la evolución humana y la dispersión de la especie a lo largo del planeta. Estas colaboraciones académicas internacionales constituyen una ecología en la que actualmente se están desarrollando los estudios de ADN. Un ecosistema que reproduce las asimetrías geopolítico‐económicas dentro de la ciencia, y más concretamente en la investigación con ADNa; lo que a su vez abre la posibilidad de reflexionar sobre aspectos éticos y epistémicos asociados a los desequilibrios e inequidades de poder y económicas que caracterizan a estas relaciones asimétricas. Nosotros remarcamos