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The changing meanings of “mutation:” A contextualized study of public discourse

✍ Scribed by Celeste M. Condit; Paul J. Achter; Ilon Lauer; Enid Sefcovic

Publisher
John Wiley and Sons
Year
2001
Tongue
English
Weight
315 KB
Volume
19
Category
Article
ISSN
1059-7794

No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.

✦ Synopsis

A quantitative examination of a representative sample of popular discourse about genetics and heredity from U.S. mass magazines between 1919 and 1996 indicates that the term mutation has become increasingly negative in its connotations through time. Although it has been used more frequently than alternative terms such as variation and alteration, it is more likely to bear negative connotations than these alternatives. Increases in the negative contextualization of mutation were initially associated with reports of genetic damage to humans from nuclear radiation after 1956. Later increases in negative connotations appear to arise from more diffuse sources. These results are contextualized by comparison to other research on meanings of mutation and an observational sample of scientific discourse.

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