Doctoral Dissertation Research: Do-It-Yourself Biology, Deliberation and Democracy

博士论文研究：DIY生物学、协商与民主

• 批准号: 1456974
• 负责人: William Kinsella
• 金额: $ 1.8万
• 依托单位: North Carolina State University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2015
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2015-03-15 至 2016-02-29
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=1456974&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Doctoral; Dissertation; Research; Do; Yourself

General Audience Summary This dissertation project will develop a case study of citizen deliberations about the governance of science by focusing on Do-It-Yourself Biology, a form of amateur science that makes relatively simple biotechnology practices accessible to individuals who are not affiliated with academic or corporate laboratories. The researcher will explore how the DIY Biology network defines synthetic biology and its governance using archival research and ethnographic methods. Issues to be explored include how the network relates to academic and corporate scientists and other stakeholders, how US and EU regulatory structures inform and respond to the network, and the consequences these negotiations pose for genetically modified organisms and the future of genetic sciences. The study will generate data that will be useful to scholars, policymakers, and practitioners. The results of the study will be disseminated to academic audiences through journals such as Social Studies of Science, Public Understanding of Science, and Science Communication. They will also be disseminated in widely accessible newspaper and magazine articles. In addition, the researcher will develop an online wiki that compiles links to local, national and international regulations pertaining to laboratories that work with transgenic organisms in order to enable practitioners to add more links over time.Technical SummaryUsing archival and ethnographic methods, the researcher will explore how DIY Biology in the San Francisco area, which serves as the primary site of the US phase of the project; the region plays a pivotal role in the development of biotechnology and microelectronics, two streams that are converging in synthetic biology. Copenhagen, Denmark, serves as the primary site of the EU phase of the project due to its leadership in developing contemporary biotechnology, in formulating national and international biotechnology policies, and in encouraging active citizen participation in the regulatory process. Complementing an ethnographic approach with archival study will extend this research back in time to highlight how DIY Biology echoes or diverges from historical conceptions of microelectronics and biotechnology. The project will contribute to multi-disciplinary conversations about how emerging technologies are constituted, legitimized and governed, and how democracies operate. By positioning citizens as practitioners of scientific techniques, DIY Biology offers an opportunity to reconsider scientist-citizen interactions in the context of governance. The project will shed light on the shifting interactions between science and politics in different cultural contexts, on what motivates people to deliberate and how people experience deliberation in their daily lives, and on the effects their deliberations have on governance systems.

一般读者摘要本论文项目将重点关注“自己动手生物学”，对公民对科学治理的审议进行案例研究。DIY生物学是一种业余科学形式，它使不隶属于学术或企业实验室的个人能够获得相对简单的生物技术实践。研究人员将利用档案研究和人种学方法探索 DIY 生物学网络如何定义合成生物学及其治理。需要探讨的问题包括该网络如何与学术和企业科学家以及其他利益相关者相关，美国和欧盟的监管结构如何通知和响应该网络，以及这些谈判对转基因生物和遗传科学的未来造成的后果。该研究将产生对学者、政策制定者和从业者有用的数据。研究结果将通过《科学社会研究》、《公众对科学的理解》和《科学传播》等期刊传播给学术受众。它们还将通过广泛传播的报纸和杂志文章进行传播。此外，研究人员将开发一个在线维基，编译与转基因生物实验室相关的地方、国家和国际法规的链接，以便使从业者能够随着时间的推移添加更多链接。技术摘要研究人员将利用档案和人种学方法，探索旧金山地区的 DIY 生物学（该项目美国阶段的主要地点）；该地区在生物技术和微电子学这两个在合成生物学领域交汇的学科的发展中发挥着关键作用。丹麦哥本哈根因其在发展当代生物技术、制定国家和国际生物技术政策以及鼓励公民积极参与监管过程方面的领导地位而成为该项目欧盟阶段的主要地点。通过档案研究补充人种学方法将使这项研究及时回溯，以突出 DIY 生物学如何与微电子和生物技术的历史概念相呼应或分歧。该项目将有助于关于新兴技术如何构成、合法化和治理以及民主国家如何运作的多学科对话。通过将公民定位为科学技术的实践者，DIY 生物学提供了一个在治理背景下重新考虑科学家与公民互动的机会。该项目将揭示不同文化背景下科学与政治之间不断变化的相互作用、人们进行深思熟虑的动机以及人们在日常生活中如何体验深思熟虑，以及他们的深思熟虑对治理体系的影响。