Dibner Institute Seminar in History of Biology

Life Science and Industry in the 20th Century
Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, MA May 15-22, 2002

The Dibner Institute for the History of Science and Technology announces its Seminar in the History of Biology, to be held from the evening of May 15 through the morning of May 22, 2002, at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. This year's seminar will examine the history of collaborations between academic and industrial life scientists.

Throughout the past century such collaborations have been commonplace, giving rise to many new agricultural and medical products. The technologies that have arisen from these collaborations have transformed society dramatically, as much as any technologies stemming from the physical sciences. Examples include the antisera and antibiotics that helped to put infectious diseases into retreat, and the new breeds of crops and fertilizers that have helped forestall famine in many areas of the world. Yet the nature and significance of technological developments based on the life sciences, and brought to fruition by cooperative work between academic and industrial biologists, have received only piecemeal attention (and relatively little at that). There has been no concerted effort to examine these issues.

We will explore a range of collaborations across various life sciences and industries throughout the 20th century. The goals of the seminar include stimulating new research on the history of industrial life science, and gaining historical perspective on the recent controversies surrounding the intimate relations between biologists and industrialists that have developed in relation to genetic engineering. Among the questions to be addressed are the following. In the past, what types of benefits have businesses offered in return for the technical advice and intellectual property of the biologists with whom they collaborated, and what restrictions on academic freedom have they imposed? In what ways have biologists transformed the businesses in which or with which they worked? In what ways (beyond merely providing technical advice) have life scientists contributed to transforming their ideas into products and making them successful in the wider social context? How have the interactions between basic life scientists and industry differed in agricultural versus medical arenas? What (if any) distinctive changes in biologist-industrialist relations have occurred recently in the commercial applications of molecular genetics? By bringing together historians, sociologists, and life scientists, we will be able to explore such questions in provocative and multidisciplinary ways. Participation by leading biologists who have had practical experience in biotechnology will provide important perspectives on the sorts of issues that arise from these types of collaborations.

We seek a diverse interdisciplinary group in order to promote rich, productive discussions and cross-fertilization of ideas and approaches. Many collaborative projects have resulted from past Dibner seminars, and we expect the same this year. Organizers for the Dibner History of Biology Seminars are John Beatty, James Collins, and Jane Maienschein; for this seminar, John Beatty (beatty@umn.edu) will serve as the main contact. For further information about the seminar series and for application materials and financial aid applications (note deadline of January 15, 2002), please contact:

The Dibner Institute for the History of Science and Technology,
Dibner Building, MIT E56-100,
Cambridge MA 02139
tel. 617-253-8721, or email Carla Chrisfeld (carlac@mit.edu).