The Biomedical Sciences In Society: An Interdisciplinary Analysis

✍ Scribed by Iain Crinson

• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
• Year: 2021
• Tongue: English
• Leaves: 208
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Category: Library

✦ Synopsis

This textbook provides a comprehensive introduction to the interdisciplinary field of the Social Studies of Science and Technology (SSST). Over the past two decades, the biomedical sciences have transformed our understanding of the relationship between the social and natural worlds, while its ‘promissory visions’ are seen to offer extraordinary opportunities for economic and social development. But alongside these scientific innovations have emerged new, and frequently unanticipated social, political, bioethical, and legal dilemmas and challenges. This cutting-edge text explores ‘post-genomic’ developments in the field of pharmacogenomics and the prospects for a new ‘precision’ or personalised medicine; the potential of environmental epigenetics to reconfigure the boundaries of the social and natural worlds; the emergence of an array of ‘neuro-disciplines’, seeking to identify the neural basis of a whole range of social and economic behaviours; and the challenges of constructing a coherent and robust governance framework for the conduct of biomedical science research and innovation, responsive to the social and health needs of the whole population.

✦ Table of Contents

Contents......Page 5
List of Figures......Page 6
List of Tables......Page 7
General Introduction......Page 8
Who Is This Textbook Intended for?......Page 9
Interdisciplinarity in Research and Analysis......Page 10
Interdisciplinarity in the Biomedical Sciences......Page 11
Social Studies of Scientific Knowledge (SSK)......Page 13
The ‘Discipline’ of Science and Technology Studies (STS)......Page 15
Scoping the Field of SSST Analytical Research......Page 18
The Structure of the Book......Page 20
Conclusion: The Constituents of Critical Analysis......Page 22
Bibliography......Page 23
Interdisciplinarity and Philosophy......Page 24
The Role of Philosophy in Scientific Understanding......Page 25
Scientific Realism: From Empiricism to Logical Positivism, and onto the Hypothetico-Deductive Method......Page 27
Thomas Kuhn: ‘Paradigmatic Shifts’ and ‘Scientific Revolutions’......Page 30
Anti-realism: The Social Construction of Knowledge in Science......Page 32
Critical Realism: Ontological Realism and Epistemological Constructionism......Page 35
Chapter Summary: Key Points......Page 37
Bibliography......Page 38
Introduction......Page 40
Anthropologists in the Lab......Page 41
Transforming Life in the Laboratory......Page 45
The Epistemic Cultures of Science......Page 47
Epistemic Disputes in Interdisciplinary Bioscience: The Case of Systems Biology......Page 49
Models of Disease in Laboratory Work......Page 52
Bench-to-Bedside: The Translational Imperative in Biomedical Research......Page 54
Chapter Summary: Key Points......Page 59
Bibliography......Page 60
Introduction......Page 62
The Emergent Field of Cognitive Neuroscience......Page 63
An Introduction to Medical Perception and the ‘Clinical Gaze’......Page 64
The Path from Laboratory-Based Research to Clinical Interventions......Page 66
Neuro-Imaging Research: Localisation, Representation, and ‘Black Boxes’......Page 67
Constructing Mental Disorders: From Psychiatry to Neuroscience......Page 71
Hope and Uncertainty: Neuroscience and the Case of Autism Spectrum Disorder......Page 74
Concluding Comments......Page 77
Bibliography......Page 78
Introduction......Page 80
The ‘Seductive Allure’ of the Neuroscience of Human Behaviour......Page 81
Neuro-enculturation 1: Neurolaw......Page 85
Neuro-enculturation 2: Neuroeconomics......Page 86
Neuro-enculturation 3: Early Years Development......Page 89
Neuro-enculturation 4: Cognitive Enhancement......Page 92
Concluding Comments......Page 94
Bibliography......Page 95
Introduction......Page 98
From Mendelian Genetics to Molecular Genomics: A Brief Journey......Page 99
Sequencing the Human Genome and Its Aftermath......Page 100
A Promissory Vision for Pharmacogenomics and the Role of Big Pharma......Page 103
The Challenge of Integrating a Personalised Medicine Within Health Care Systems......Page 106
An Era of Personal Genomics?......Page 111
Concluding Comments......Page 113
Chapter Summary—Key Points......Page 114
Bibliography......Page 115
An Introduction to Epigenetics......Page 118
Classic Rodent Studies: Stressors and Early Development......Page 119
‘Natural Experiments’ and Human Epigenetic Research......Page 122
Epigenetic Inheritance Research: The Transgenerational Imprinting of Social Behaviour?......Page 123
‘Race’ and Categories of Difference in Epigenetic Research......Page 125
Constituting the ‘Environment’ in Epigenetics: Renegotiating the Biological-Social Boundary......Page 131
Chapter Summary—Key Points......Page 133
Bibliography......Page 134
Introduction......Page 136
The ‘Female Brain’ and Other Gender Myths......Page 137
‘Leaky Pipelines’ and Gendered Roles in Biomedical Science Careers......Page 143
Chapter Summary—Key Points......Page 146
Bibliography......Page 147
A Cautionary Tale......Page 148
Frameworks of Science Governance......Page 149
The Role of Government in Biomedical Research and Development......Page 153
The Public Engagement with Science......Page 156
Techno-Scientific Innovation and Risk......Page 159
Alternative Scenarios: Epidemics and Moral Panics......Page 162
Chapter Summary: Key Points......Page 166
Bibliography......Page 167
Introduction......Page 169
Three Case Studies in the Regulation of Research......Page 170
The Role of Biobanks in Biomedical Research......Page 174
Commercialising Biodata: A Challenge for Regulation......Page 176
Bioethical Principles in the Context of the Governance of Biobanks......Page 178
Big Data Analytics and the Emergence of Bioinformatics......Page 181
Conclusions: Limits to Governance......Page 184
Bibliography......Page 185
Conclusion: Future Pathways in the Interdisciplinary Analysis of Biomedical Science......Page 188
Glossary......Page 190
Bibliography......Page 194

✦ Subjects

Science And Technology Studies