Agenda-Setting in the Human Genome Initiative: A Study of the Construction of a Technological System

绘制和测序人类基因组的计划正进入一个关键时期。在今后的五年中，组织结构将实现其目标，即到2005年获得完整的序列。20世纪90年代初做出的选择将确定人类基因组图谱和测序技术系统的基本轮廓。因此，这一时期是一个战略研究机会，对理解基因组计划的演变具有特殊的重要性，对社会学和科学技术史具有更普遍的意义。希尔加特纳博士正在进行一项研究，研究在这个关键时期，基因组学社区的研究议程、组织设计和政策是如何形成的。技术的系统/网络方法和议程设置的概念提供了一个理论框架。该研究将采用前瞻性的纵向研究，对来自社区的关键线人进行队列研究，深入访谈，并在精心选择的实验室进行参与者观察。

The initiative to map and sequence the human genome is entering a critical period. For the next five years, the organizational structures for accomplishing its goal of obtaining the complete sequence by the year 2005. The choices made in the early 1990's will define the basic outline of the technological system for mapping and sequencing the human genome. This period is thus a strategic research opportunity of exceptional importance for understanding the evolution of the genome project, with a more general significance for sociology and history of science and technology. Dr. Hilgartner is undertaking a study of how the agenda for research, for organizational design, and for policy of the genomics community takes shape during this critical period. The system/network approach to technology, and the concept of agenda-setting, provide a theoretical framework. The research will use a prospective, longitudinal study of a cohort of key informants from the community, in-depth interviewing, and participant observation in carefully selected laboratories.