New wine in old bottles? The biotechnology problem in the history of molecular biology - CNRS - Centre national de la recherche scientifique Accéder directement au contenu
Article Dans Une Revue Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part C: Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences Année : 2009

New wine in old bottles? The biotechnology problem in the history of molecular biology

Résumé

This paper examines the “biotechnology problem” in the history of molecular biology, namely the alleged reinvention of a basic academic discipline looking for the logic of life, into a typical technoscientific enterprise, closely related to agriculture, medicine, and the construction of markets. The dominant STS model sees the roots of this shift in a radical change of the regime of knowledge production. The paper argues that this scheme needs to be historicized to take into account the past in our biotech present. Looking at the development of breast cancer genetic testing and GMOs as examples of mounting issues of intellectual property, risk and regulation, the paper also argues that historians of biology should pay closer attention to the political, the economical and the legal changes of the last thirty years. Solving the biotech problem requires new categories. The notion of “way of regulating” is given as an example of such notions linking the local and the global.

Dates et versions

hal-03477254 , version 1 (13-12-2021)

Identifiants

Citer

Jean-Paul Gaudillière. New wine in old bottles? The biotechnology problem in the history of molecular biology. Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part C: Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences, 2009, 40 (1), pp.20-28. ⟨10.1016/j.shpsc.2008.12.004⟩. ⟨hal-03477254⟩
16 Consultations
0 Téléchargements

Altmetric

Partager

Gmail Facebook X LinkedIn More