Repairing the 'Broken Middle' of the Health Innovation Pathway:Exploring Diverse Practitioner Perspectives on the Emergence and Role of ‘Translational Medicine’

The emergence of Translational Medicine (TM) as a potential solution to health innovation challenges has gained currency in scientific, clinical and policy discourses. Using interview data from key professionals involved in TM, this article explores diverse practitioner definitions and the multiple meanings ascribed to TM in the context of a purportedly broken R&D system and promissory visions and expectations built around new life science. It also begins to address some of the transformative impacts of TM on the broader institutional landscape for life science innovation, particularly the changes in traditional institutional boundaries. I conclude that in light of the multiple framings of TM, it might best be conceived as an institutional mechanism or process for co-ordinating multiple actors and complex activities in the new collaborative research and development contexts now demanded of the life sciences

Unpacking the concept of bioeconomy:Problems of definition, measurement, and value

In this paper, we critically explore the evolution and impact of the concept ‘bioeconomy’ as a descriptor and driver of diff erent scientific, technological, and policy initiatives in the life sciences. We unpack the different ways bioeconomy has been framed – as an emergent, present, or sometimes promissory economic regime underpinned by particular socio-technical practices - by tracing how its use has evolved in different disciplinary field and sectors. We also critically analyse three key reports that attempt to measure the size and contribution of the bioeconomy at regional levels. Our overarching questions are: What is the bioeconomy, how has it been used in different fields, and how might it be best understood and valued both economically and politically? In answering these questions, we build on and contribute to critical scholarship in science and technology studies, particularly theoretical work on biovalue, commodification, and assetisation; using this in conjunction with our empirical concept search and document analysis to contribute new knowledge and understanding of the bioeconomy’s past, present, and future

Twenty-first century bioeconomy: global challenges of biological knowledge for health and agriculture

Investment in biotechnology has yielded relatively disappointing results and illustrates the gap between the promise and reality of new science. This begs the question: Does research on ‘life’ bring different complexities and uncertainties that act as a barrier to the application of new biology in global health and agriculture? There has been high-quality research on the social and ethical impacts of new biology and on the economics of biotechnology but few systematic and integrated attempts to undertake interdisciplinary research and address these constraints. This paper provides an original empirical analysis of contemporary and future understandings of the bioeconomy using a co-evolutionary and interactive approach to examine the extent to which it may be different from other technological transformations. We focus on the Innogen Centre’s extensive research results on three important and contemporary themes: food and energy security, life science and healthcare translational medicine, and global health

Genetic information, life assurance, and the UK policy and regulatory framework

This thesis provides the first extensive sociological analysis of the genetics and life assurance debate in the UK. It uses data from original qualitative interviews, as well as various policy documents and reports, to investigate the likely implications of genetic information for life assurance provision, reveal the narrative strategies used by key stakeholders as they account for their concerns on the issue, and evaluate the efficacy of the policy and regulatory framework. It also attempts to evaluate the suitability of the citizens’ jury model as an alternative to existing decision-making procedures. The thesis begins by revealing the most likely social, commercial, legal, and ethical implications of allowing insurers to access new kinds of genetic information. A history of insurance, risk and probability is used as a starting point to challenge many of the pervasive fears and anxieties. This part of the thesis critically analyses the social and philosophical basis of such contested notions as ’discrimination’, 'social exclusion’, 'genetic information', and ‘social justice’, and begins to reveal some of the key strategies of stakeholders in the debate. The thesis then analyses stakeholder accounts of their concerns, and begins to reveal the ways in which they draw on a broad narrative repertoire to give their beliefs a degree of moral legitimacy/coherency. The impact this may have on the quality of debate is also investigated. Following from the analysis of stakeholder accounts, the thesis proceeds to investigate the nature of the policymaking and regulatory framework. Through a sociological analysis of the work of various advisory committees, which led to the implementation of a moratorium on insurers' use of genetic information, the thesis investigates how fair and equitable the overall political process has been, particularly in terms of the treatment of stakeholder evidence. It also assesses the role of the public and media in shaping the political response to this issue. The thesis concludes by assessing the citizens’ jury as suitable procedures for resolving the conflicts around genetic information and life assurance. Both the potential advantages and persistent problems with the model are critically evaluated