Dissertation Research: From Prevention to Infection: Aerobiology, the Industrialization of Disease, & Biological Warfare in the United States, 1920-1960

论文研究：从预防到感染：空气生物学、疾病工业化、

• 批准号: 9906621
• 负责人: Edward Constant
• 金额: $ 0.75万
• 依托单位: Carnegie-Mellon University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 1999
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 1999-09-01 至 2000-08-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=9906621&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Dissertation; Research; Prevention; Infection; Aerobiology

This dissertation research project focuses on and links the seemingly disparate histories of academic and industrial microbiology, the phenomenon of standardization of organisms for experimental use, and the simultaneous development of standardization processes and artifacts within the manufacturing sector, most specifically in the design and production of weapons. An examination of the scientific and technological modifications made to the pathogen Francisella (Pasturella) tularensis, one of the biological weapons mass-produced by the United States, allows insights into the process by which microbial organisms are standardized for military use. In addition, this research examines the organizational and institutional relationships between various academic, industrial, and military researchers within the microbiological community in the US during the first half of this century. The historical analysis of the scientific, technological, and institutional growth of this program begins during the earlier part of the 20th century. The scientific and technological evolution of aerosol physics and its applications to the stabilization of airborne biological organisms began with research conducted on airborne disease by scientists and public health officials interested in medical bacteriology and industrial hygiene during the 1920's and 1930's. Interest in the study of the airborne spread of particulate matter and the subsequent causal relationship between airborne matter and disease led to the development of aerobiology, a subfield in microbiology. This dissertation explores the origin and evolution of this scientific subdiscipline, the militarization of the technology by the US armed forces, and the importance of this technology to the production of biological weapons. The theoretical framework that will guide this dissertation includes the concept of technological systems as applied to biological warfare research and development programs and biological weapons; the concept of discipline building to understand the birth of the aerobiology as an interdisciplinary field of study; the concept of trading zones to explain the historical evolution of aerobiology and its transformation from an applied science within medical technology to its militarization as a means of producing airborne pathogens for biological warfare; and "model organisms" and the standardization of organisms for specific scientific, technological, and medical purposes. This dissertation will examine the process by which the organism Francisella (Pasturella) tularensis, and the resultant disease tularemia, were modified from a natural pathogen into a standardized weapon system.

本学位论文研究项目的重点和链接学术和工业微生物学的看似不同的历史，生物体的标准化用于实验用途的现象，以及标准化过程和制造业内的文物的同时发展，特别是在武器的设计和生产。对美国大规模生产的生物武器之一土拉热弗朗西丝氏菌病原体进行科学和技术改造的研究，使人们能够深入了解微生物有机体标准化用于军事用途的过程。此外，本研究还探讨了本世纪上半叶美国微生物界各种学术、工业和军事研究人员之间的组织和机构关系。对这一计划的科学、技术和制度发展的历史分析始于世纪早期。气溶胶物理学的科学和技术发展及其在稳定空气生物有机体方面的应用始于20世纪20年代和30年代对医学细菌学和工业卫生感兴趣的科学家和公共卫生官员对空气传播疾病的研究。对颗粒物在空气中传播的研究以及随后空气中物质与疾病之间的因果关系的兴趣导致了微生物学的一个子领域空气生物学的发展。本文探讨了这一科学分支学科的起源和演变，美国军队对该技术的军事化，以及该技术对生物武器生产的重要性。指导本论文的理论框架包括应用于生物战研究和发展计划以及生物武器的技术系统的概念，理解作为一个跨学科研究领域的空气生物学的诞生的学科建设的概念，贸易区的概念来解释空气生物学的历史演变及其从医学技术中的应用科学到其军事化作为生产用于生物战的空气传播病原体的手段;以及“模式生物”和用于特定科学、技术和医学目的的生物标准化。本论文将研究生物体Francisella（Pasturella）tularensis和由此产生的疾病土拉菌病从自然病原体修改为标准化武器系统的过程。