Academic and Molecular Matrices:A Study of the Transformations of Connective Tissue Research at the University of Manchester (1947–1996)

This paper explores the different identities adopted by connective tissue research at the University of Manchester during the second half of the 20th century. By looking at the long-term redefinition of a research programme, it sheds new light on the interactions between different and conflicting levels in the study of biomedicine, such as the local and the global, or the medical and the biological. It also addresses the gap in the literature between the first biomedical complexes after World War II and the emergence of biotechnology. Connective tissue research in Manchester emerged as a field focused on new treatments for rheumatic diseases. During the 1950s and 60s, it absorbed a number of laboratory techniques from biology, namely cell culture and electron microscopy. The transformations in scientific policy during the late 70s and the migration of Manchester researchers to the US led them to adopt recombinant DNA methods, which were borrowed from human genetics. This resulted in the emergence of cell matrix biology, a new field which had one of its reference centres in Manchester. The Manchester story shows the potential of detailed and chronologically wide local studies of patterns of work to understand the mechanisms by which new biomedical tools and institutions interact with long-standing problems and existing affiliations

Mapping and sequencing information: the social context for the genomics revolution

In 1983, after devoting some eight years of his life to the description of how a nematode worm develops from an embryo into an adult, molecular biologist John Sulston embarked on a remarkably different project: he decided to map the worm’s genome. Sulston’s impulsive desire to characterise this creature’s DNA from start to finish offers only a partial explanation for this transition. Instead, a close examination of the wider social context for this ‘moment’ in molecular biology gives a more rewarding explanation of Sulston’s intellectual leap. This reveals a world in which biotechnology gradually adapted to and integrated into an ‘information society’ increasingly dependent on the creation, distribution and manipulation of information. The application of computing to DNA during the first half of the 1980s was crucial for this integration, fostering the emergence of genomics and ultimately the Human Genome Project.This research was conducted while holding postgraduate fellowships given by Caja Madrid Foundation, Madrid City Hall and Residencia de Estudiantes (Spain), as well as a Hans Rausing Fellowship given by the Centre for the History of Science, Imperial College, London. Without them, it would not have been feasible.Peer reviewe

The Rise and Fall of the Idea of Genetic Information (1948-2006)

[ES] El 26 de junio de 2000, durante la presentación del primer borrador del Proyecto Genoma Humano, el entonces presidente de los Estados Unidos, Bill Clinton, afirmó que "hoy estamos aprendiendo el lenguaje en el que Dios creó la vida". Detrás de sus palabras se escondía una historia de más de medio siglo basada en el entendimiento del ADN como información. Mi artículo analiza esta historia, abordando los orígenes de la visión informacional de nuestros genes a principios de los 50, cómo esta visión afectó las investigaciones en el código genético (años 50 y 60) y la transformación de la idea de información genética en el contexto de las primeras técnicas de secuenciación de ADN y de la bioinformática (años 80 y 90). Propongo que el concepto de ADN como información alcanzó un climax con el planteamiento del Proyecto Genoma Humano, pero actualmente afronta una crisis que coincide con el cuestionamiento de la idea de sociedad de la información. Finalmente, analizo el desarrollo de la biología de sistemas como paradigma alternativo.[EN] On 26 June 2000, during the presentation of the Human Genome Project’s first draft, Bill Clinton, then President of the United States, claimed that “today we are learning the language in which God created life”.1 Behind his remarks lay a story of more than half a century involving the understanding of DNA as information. This paper analyses that story, discussing the origins of the informational view of our genes during the early 1950s, how such a view affected the research on the genetic code (1950s and ‘60s) and the transformation of the information idea in the context of DNA sequencing and bioinformatics (‘80s and ‘90s). I suggest that the concept of DNA as information reached a climax with the proposal of the Human Genome Project (HGP), but is currently facing a crisis coinciding with the questioning of the information society. Finally, I discuss the emergence of systems biology as an alternative paradigm.This research was conducted while holding postgraduate fellowships given by Caja Madrid Foundation, Madrid City Hall and Residencia de Estudiantes (Spain) as well as a Hans Rausing Fellowship given by the Centre for the History of Science, Imperial College, London. Without them, it would not have been feasible.Peer reviewe