The public image of genetics research has undergone a remarkable
transformation since the 1950s, from a suspect brand of research tainted
by eugenics to a thriving, well-funded, and "popular" field of
biomedicine. Still, despite enormous scientific advances in DNA
technology and its ability to sustain large areas of the science
industry, social, legal, and popular opinion about genetics remains
highly ambivalent.
In Imagenation, historian of science Jose Van Dijck examines the
role of images and imagination in popular representations fo the new
genetics since the late 1950s. Taking us through a vast range of
media--from general interest magazines to science fiction to public
relations materials--he demonstrates how popular representations of
genetics do not simply reflect the advancement of genetic technology.
Instead, cultural accounts of genetics are taking on an important role
in the very structure of scientific thinking, with many
groups--environmentalists, feminists, entrepreneurs--influencing this
process.
From news stories of DNA strings escaping from our laboratories to the
ongoing debates over bioethics, from James Watson and The Double Helix
to the Human Genome Project, Van Dijck Portrays the "imaginary" tools of
genetics as players in a theater of representation--a multilayered
contest in which special interest groups and professional organizations
mobilize images in a heated debate over the meaning of genetics.
Compelling and insightful, Imagenation unravels this phenomenon,
revealing how ideology shapes the cultural forms through which we make
sense of scientific progress.
