Fallout Memory Trajectories at Semipalatinsk 205
natsional’nost’, and natsiia (terms for ethnic groups at different stages of development used by former imperial ethnographers) and by the mid-1950s the
category ethnos, as “ethno-social formation” “distinguished by (…) historical and cultural traits.” 39 During the early Soviet years, ethnographic knowledge was mobilized for politics in different ways – in and as the anticolonial
yet also eugenic biopolitics of the early USSR. That biopolitical condition
was again at stake and thus reworked during the post-Soviet transformation.
Interestingly, the scientists of the Almaty-based Republican Research
Center for Protection of Mother and Child Health also collaborated on studies
of ethnoterritorial groups, using molecular techniques of genomics, based on
studies of DNA polymorphisms. 40 Here, population geneticists were closely
connected to biological anthropology. 41 Researchers in the field also contributed to bodies of knowledge that intersected with questions about the origins
of “Kazakhs” as a population group and their migration history. During the
Soviet era, for example, biological anthropologist Orazhak Ismagulov, based
in Alma-Ata, studied the ethnogenesis of the Kazakh people. 42 Ismagulov
worked with serological methods as well as “dermatoglyphs.” 43 These techniques, from physical anthropology, violently racialized human differences in
colonial contexts of the early-20th century, yet they were perpetuated, albeit
with different framings in the USSR. Coming to terms with “Kazakhness”
and adopting a historiography based on modern science was one element that
the new Republic assembled in the new state-building activities and their
history policies.
The Almaty research center carried out work toward documenting health
effects due to fallout from nuclear testing at Semipalatinsk. In particular, the
center was involved in studying chromosome aberrations in different regions
of northern Kazakhstan. 44 These studies compared incidence rates in different regions of Kazakhstan, for exposed and nonexposed areas. Trained
in population genetics, the center’s scientists brought their own approaches
and methods into investigations of the Semipalatinsk region. Their studies
focused mainly on hereditary disease and congenital malformations (vrozhdenie poroki razvitiia) 45 through demographic studies, rates of hereditary disease,
as well as the full range of indexes established in the epistemologies of population genetics. While some of the studies carried out focused on clinical
genetic counseling using family trees, others related migration patterns to
the gene pool and genetic distance, or reproductive patterns in populations.
This work used classic genetics in order to follow radiation effects in nuclear
families, situating potential radiation effects in the studies of hereditary conditions. They focused on alterations in the germ line and until birth, integrating the study of radiation effects with biomedical knowledge on embryology
and teratology. 46 Teratology in particular became a field that was relevant to
the concerns over prenatal testing, perinatal care, genetic disease, and population health – fields that became tied in to nation building in specific ways.
At the same time, the government supported and developed the new projects.
This included building a “National Genetic Registry” for the New Republic of
natsional’nost’, and natsiia (terms for ethnic groups at different stages of development used by former imperial ethnographers) and by the mid-1950s the
category ethnos, as “ethno-social formation” “distinguished by (…) historical and cultural traits.” 39 During the early Soviet years, ethnographic knowledge was mobilized for politics in different ways – in and as the anticolonial
yet also eugenic biopolitics of the early USSR. That biopolitical condition
was again at stake and thus reworked during the post-Soviet transformation.
Interestingly, the scientists of the Almaty-based Republican Research
Center for Protection of Mother and Child Health also collaborated on studies
of ethnoterritorial groups, using molecular techniques of genomics, based on
studies of DNA polymorphisms. 40 Here, population geneticists were closely
connected to biological anthropology. 41 Researchers in the field also contributed to bodies of knowledge that intersected with questions about the origins
of “Kazakhs” as a population group and their migration history. During the
Soviet era, for example, biological anthropologist Orazhak Ismagulov, based
in Alma-Ata, studied the ethnogenesis of the Kazakh people. 42 Ismagulov
worked with serological methods as well as “dermatoglyphs.” 43 These techniques, from physical anthropology, violently racialized human differences in
colonial contexts of the early-20th century, yet they were perpetuated, albeit
with different framings in the USSR. Coming to terms with “Kazakhness”
and adopting a historiography based on modern science was one element that
the new Republic assembled in the new state-building activities and their
history policies.
The Almaty research center carried out work toward documenting health
effects due to fallout from nuclear testing at Semipalatinsk. In particular, the
center was involved in studying chromosome aberrations in different regions
of northern Kazakhstan. 44 These studies compared incidence rates in different regions of Kazakhstan, for exposed and nonexposed areas. Trained
in population genetics, the center’s scientists brought their own approaches
and methods into investigations of the Semipalatinsk region. Their studies
focused mainly on hereditary disease and congenital malformations (vrozhdenie poroki razvitiia) 45 through demographic studies, rates of hereditary disease,
as well as the full range of indexes established in the epistemologies of population genetics. While some of the studies carried out focused on clinical
genetic counseling using family trees, others related migration patterns to
the gene pool and genetic distance, or reproductive patterns in populations.
This work used classic genetics in order to follow radiation effects in nuclear
families, situating potential radiation effects in the studies of hereditary conditions. They focused on alterations in the germ line and until birth, integrating the study of radiation effects with biomedical knowledge on embryology
and teratology. 46 Teratology in particular became a field that was relevant to
the concerns over prenatal testing, perinatal care, genetic disease, and population health – fields that became tied in to nation building in specific ways.
At the same time, the government supported and developed the new projects.
This included building a “National Genetic Registry” for the New Republic of