How Scientists Remember a Major Discovery: History and Memory of DNA structure.

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): This project explores how the discovery of DMA structure became part of our cultural memory, from the publication of the first coherent memory in 1968 until the global celebration of the 50th anniversary of this discovery in 2003, by comparing public memories constructed at the 21st, 40th, and 50th anniversaries of this discovery, (in 1974,1993, and 2003, respectively) The project seeks to clarify the shaping of diverse public memories by specific historical contexts. These contexts range from a quest for distributive justice of scientific credit in 1974, by giving public legitimacy to the counter-memories of DMA "losers"; to a quest for association with the financial bonanza of the biotech industry in 1993; and a quest for popular, postgenomics, therapeutic agendas in 2003. The project further compares the public memory constructed at the 50th anniversary of DMA structure in three culturally and politically distinct spaces, namely US, UK, and EU. The project contrasts the campaign of the British government, named "50 years of excellence in British science" with the European Union's campaign for European integration, and the American campaign for controlling the "Future of Life", while also addressing policy issues of "gender and science". This project also explores what role national health policies had in the emergence of a central place for DNA in cultural memory, in view of the fact that many DMA scientists were sponsored by the British Medical Research Council and the NIH. Finally, the project seeks to clarify how the cultural memory of the last four decades relates to DNA's "actual past", (as opposed to its remembered past) in view of new documentation that became available in the last decade. Key themes and methods include: A) Textual and rhetorical analysis of published memories from the period 1960-2003. B) Archival research on unpublished manuscripts and correspondence of relevant scientists or institutions. C) Participant observation and ethnographic analysis of events at the 50th anniversary in 2003 including interational conferences, exhibitions, plays, TV programs, and newspaper special issues, in the US/ UK/ EU. Lessons from this first ever study to clarify the interplay between DNA history and its public memory will enable us to better address major health challenges in which DNA research and its applications figure centrally, such as cancer, genetic diseases, and aging.