Johannes Schuckert (München)
Hop, Step, and Jump - Sydney Brenner’s Campaign for a Human Genome Mapping Project in the UK
28.10.2021
Ort: Historicum K 026
Zeit: 16-18 Uhr
In my book chapter on the prehistory of the Human Genome Project (HGP), I offer a new perspective on the genesis of the British side of the venture at the end of the 1980s. I argue that while the HGP as a whole was shaped by cooperation and competition in a complex network of actors and institutions, in the UK the scientific agenda was mainly dictated by the involvement of a single actor: Sydney Brenner. In the years preceding its official start in 1989, Brenner launched an efficient campaign to influence scientific organisations, political actors, and the public in order to implement his own epistemic interests and managed to set the course of the project for years to come.