Genomics as “Revolutionary”: Prospects and Problems
This essay will describe a key problem: the abyss between the public presentation of genomics as “revolution” and the history and practice of genomics. Part of the problem lies in the term “revolution”. This reflects a Kuhnian “bias” which includes all history and politics as “revolutions”. But more...
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| Wydane w: | URI:https://journals.openedition.org/cdst, |
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| Format: | Article ou chapitre numérique |
| Język: | Français |
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Cahiers Droit, Sciences & Technologies
2019
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openedition-oai:revues.org:cdst_769 https://doi.org/10.4000/cdst.769 urn:doi:10.4000/cdst.769 fr https://journals.openedition.org/cdst/769 2019-10-31T01:00:00Z info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess article info:eu-repo/semantics/article urn:handle:20.500.13089/dmnl https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ Genomics as “Revolutionary”: Prospects and Problems Cahiers Droit, Sciences & Technologies Presses universitaires d'Aix-Marseille - PUAM info:eu-repo/semantics/reference/issn/2431-8663 info:eu-repo/semantics/reference/issn/1967-0311 URI:https://journals.openedition.org/cdst Donohue, Christopher This essay will describe a key problem: the abyss between the public presentation of genomics as “revolution” and the history and practice of genomics. Part of the problem lies in the term “revolution”. This reflects a Kuhnian “bias” which includes all history and politics as “revolutions”. But more concretely, this conceptualization reveals problems in the case of genomics. Revolutions are defined by their beginning and end. This is not clear in the case of genomics. For human geneticists, the Human Genome Project started with the lectures on chromosomes. The National Institute for Human Genome Research (NHGRI) said the HGP started in 1990. When the HGP is “finished” is another source of conflict because the human genome is still incomplete. In addition, genomics is facing an “existential crisis” with the question of “missing heritability”. If genomics can not find the true genetic contribution to the human disease, it is not a revolution at all. In conclusion, this essay explains why revolutionary rhetoric should be avoided, in science (and perhaps in politics). Cet essai pose un problème clé: l’abîme entre la présentation publique de la génomique comme « révolutionnaire » et l’histoire et la pratique de la génomique. Une partie du problème réside dans le terme « révolution ». Cela reflète un « parti pris » kuhnien, selon lequel l’histoire se comprend en fonction de « révolutions ». Mais plus concrètement, cette conception révèle des problèmes dans le cas de la génomique. Tout d’abord, les révolutions sont définies par leur début et leur fin or cela n’est pas clair dans le cas de la génomique. Pour les généticiens humains, le Human Genome Project a commencé par les conférences sur les chromosomes. L’Institut national de recherche sur le génome humain (NHGRI) a déclaré que le HGP avait débuté en 1990. Dire quand le HGP est s’est terminé représente une autre source de conflit, car le génome humain est encore incomplet. De plus, la génomique fait face à une « crise existentielle » avec la question de « l’héritabilité manquante ». Si la génomique ne peut pas trouver la véritable contribution génétique à la maladie humaine, alors elle n’a rien d’une révolution. En conclusion, cet essai explique pourquoi les rhétoriques révolutionnaires devraient être évitées, en science (et peut-être aussi en politique). |
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OpenEdition Journal |
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Français |
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Article ou chapitre numérique |
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0/Bibliothèque numérique/ 1/Bibliothèque numérique/OpenEdition Journals/ |
| description |
This essay will describe a key problem: the abyss between the public presentation of genomics as “revolution” and the history and practice of genomics. Part of the problem lies in the term “revolution”. This reflects a Kuhnian “bias” which includes all history and politics as “revolutions”. But more concretely, this conceptualization reveals problems in the case of genomics. Revolutions are defined by their beginning and end. This is not clear in the case of genomics. For human geneticists, the Human Genome Project started with the lectures on chromosomes. The National Institute for Human Genome Research (NHGRI) said the HGP started in 1990. When the HGP is “finished” is another source of conflict because the human genome is still incomplete. In addition, genomics is facing an “existential crisis” with the question of “missing heritability”. If genomics can not find the true genetic contribution to the human disease, it is not a revolution at all. In conclusion, this essay explains why revolutionary rhetoric should be avoided, in science (and perhaps in politics). |
| author |
Donohue, Christopher |
| spellingShingle |
Donohue, Christopher Genomics as “Revolutionary”: Prospects and Problems |
| author_facet |
Donohue, Christopher |
| author_sort |
Donohue, Christopher |
| title |
Genomics as “Revolutionary”: Prospects and Problems |
| title_short |
Genomics as “Revolutionary”: Prospects and Problems |
| title_full |
Genomics as “Revolutionary”: Prospects and Problems |
| title_fullStr |
Genomics as “Revolutionary”: Prospects and Problems |
| title_full_unstemmed |
Genomics as “Revolutionary”: Prospects and Problems |
| title_sort |
genomics as “revolutionary”: prospects and problems |
| publisher |
Cahiers Droit, Sciences & Technologies |
| publishDate |
2019 |
| container_title |
URI:https://journals.openedition.org/cdst |
| url |
https://ezproxy.univ-orleans.fr/login?url=https://doi.org/10.4000/cdst.769 https://ezproxy.univ-orleans.fr/login?url=https://journals.openedition.org/cdst/769 |
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