Dissertation Research: Genomics and the Future of Aging

论文研究：基因组学和衰老的未来

• 批准号: 0323370
• 负责人: Susan Harding
• 金额: $ 0.8万
• 依托单位: University of California-Santa Cruz
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2003
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2003-08-01 至 2004-07-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=0323370&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Dissertation; Research; Genomics; Future; Aging

This ethnographic dissertation research project in Science and Technology Studies asks how investigations into genes and genomes blend the resources of the biological sciences and the computer industry to produce new meanings and possibilities for human aging. It will examine how current efforts in genomics open up prospects for more "successful" aging through the management of age-related diseases and extensions in life span, bringing together discourses of anti-aging with notions of reengineering and repair. It posits that the work of aligning organic and computational materials and ideas in genomics research is consequential for the development of biological theory, and that this is especially worth analyzing in the field of human aging. Aging has long been contested as a natural process that both invites and resists human intervention, and it is nowbecoming an object of technological dreams, just as reproduction has been for the past several decades. As in the case of reproduction, the possibility of intervening in aging raises questions about how thecategories of the natural and normal are constituted and how they intersect and diverge. In a postgenomic era, cultural concepts of nature and normality are grounded (in part) in the mundane details ofgene chips and other computational tools, which biologists use to identify age-related genes and develop models of the aging process. This project seeks to trace the relations that shape new visions ofsuccessful aging around the combined mechanisms of genes and computers. It focuses on the interpretive work of biologists, computer scientists, and others who collaborate on the analysis of genomic data to produce meaningful, coherent stories about what genes do. NSF funds support ethnographic research at a research lab in molecular and cell biology, located in the San Francisco Bay Area, which is led by a senior researcher in the biology of aging. Over a period of 12 months, the researcher will engage with scientists whose work relies on computational resources and access to engineering colleagues in order to identify how the capabilities and constraints of local information technologies are factored into experimental designThrough its ethnographic approach, this study explores the linkages between new biological facts and societal concerns about health and youth, as they are articulated in the everyday practices of working with materials as diverse as tissue cultures and database software. This project offers benefits to society in fostering public discourse on the implications of genomic research and new theories of human aging. Even as the current science emphasizes more complexity and indeterminacy in genes and their interactions, public discourse tends toward genetic determinism. A more nuanced account of genomic analysis and discovery will help non-scientists understand how to interpret new results and ask questions about the biosocial implications of genomic knowledge. In addition, an anthropological perspective on the blending of computation with biology can enhance the collaborative efforts of practitioners in these fields.

科学和技术研究中的这个民族志论文研究项目询问基因和基因组的调查如何融合生物科学和计算机行业的资源，为人类衰老产生新的意义和可能性。它将研究基因组学目前的努力如何通过管理与年龄有关的疾病和延长寿命，将抗衰老的论述与再造和修复的概念结合起来，为更“成功”的衰老开辟前景。它假定，在基因组学研究中，有机和计算材料和思想的对齐工作对生物学理论的发展是重要的，这在人类衰老领域尤其值得分析。长期以来，衰老一直被认为是一个既邀请又抵制人类干预的自然过程，现在它正成为技术梦想的对象，就像过去几十年的生殖一样。正如在生殖的情况下，干预衰老的可能性提出了一些问题，即自然和正常的类别是如何构成的，以及它们是如何交叉和分歧的。在后基因组时代，自然和正常的文化概念（部分）建立在基因芯片和其他计算工具的平凡细节上，生物学家使用这些工具来识别与年龄相关的基因并开发衰老过程的模型。该项目旨在追踪围绕基因和计算机的组合机制形成成功衰老的新愿景的关系。 它专注于生物学家，计算机科学家和其他合作分析基因组数据的人的解释工作，以产生关于基因作用的有意义的，连贯的故事。美国国家科学基金会的资金支持位于旧金山弗朗西斯科湾区的分子和细胞生物学研究实验室的人种学研究，该实验室由衰老生物学的高级研究员领导。在为期12个月的时间里，研究人员将与科学家接触，他们的工作依赖于计算资源和工程同事，以确定如何将当地信息技术的能力和限制因素纳入实验设计通过其人种学方法，本研究探讨了新的生物学事实与社会对健康和青年的关注之间的联系，因为它们在处理组织培养物和数据库软件等各种材料的日常实践中得到了阐述。该项目为社会提供了好处，促进了关于基因组研究和人类衰老新理论的影响的公共讨论。即使当前的科学强调基因及其相互作用的复杂性和不确定性，公众话语也倾向于遗传决定论。对基因组分析和发现的更细致的描述将有助于非科学家理解如何解释新的结果，并就基因组知识的生物社会意义提出问题。此外，从人类学的角度来看待计算与生物学的融合，可以加强这些领域从业人员的合作努力。