Routledge Handbook of Genomics, Health and Society

Organizational Change of Synthetic Biology Research: Emerging Initiatives Advancing a Bottom-Up Approach

“…Additionally, there is a growing body of literature dedicated on the techno-epistemic aspects of Synbio research practices and cultures of work (Kastenhofer, 2013;Meloni, 2014). Likewise, much study is now available on why and how some fields take a tentative shape, and under what conditions they negotiate the building of new infrastructures that are politically feasible to produce expert knowledge and technologies in society (Gibbon et al, 2018;Eyal and Medvetz, 2023;Fox et al, 2020;Silva et al, 2021;Au, 2021).…”

Towards equitable and trustworthy genomics research

“…54 In addition, there are substantial historic reasons for potential mistrust in scientific endeavours, particularly those associated with former colonial powers. Historically, colonisation (and colonial science) has always been viewed as extractive of physical and human resources, most heinously in the case of the slave trade, 55 and as reifying particular notions of ethnic or racial identity and characteristics. 56 Examples abound, but the forced sterilisation of Herero women of Namibia in the early 1900s by German colonial administrators in furtherance of racist ‘scientific’ efforts to prevent mixed-race marriages is a particularly egregious example of why suspicions may persist.…”