Jacques Monod, François Jacob, and the Lysenko affair: boundary work

This article looks at the highly influential scientific work of François Jacob and Jacques Monod in the context of the Lysenko affair. It argues that Lysenkoism provided a stimulus to understand and interpret the science they were doing in the field of molecular biology in a particular way, leading...

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Main Author: Marks, John
Format: Article
Published: Johns Hopkins University Press 2012
Subjects:
Online Access:https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/34418/
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author Marks, John
author_facet Marks, John
author_sort Marks, John
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description This article looks at the highly influential scientific work of François Jacob and Jacques Monod in the context of the Lysenko affair. It argues that Lysenkoism provided a stimulus to understand and interpret the science they were doing in the field of molecular biology in a particular way, leading to a crucial terminological shift from adaptation to induction in 1953. At a time when new geopolitical borders and barriers were being constructed, molecular biology claimed to have identified a rigidly policed border between the genetic material in the cell nucleus and the rest of the cell. Molecular biology was, in this sense, drawn into a form of intellectual Cold War.
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spelling nottingham-344182020-05-04T16:33:05Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/34418/ Jacques Monod, François Jacob, and the Lysenko affair: boundary work Marks, John This article looks at the highly influential scientific work of François Jacob and Jacques Monod in the context of the Lysenko affair. It argues that Lysenkoism provided a stimulus to understand and interpret the science they were doing in the field of molecular biology in a particular way, leading to a crucial terminological shift from adaptation to induction in 1953. At a time when new geopolitical borders and barriers were being constructed, molecular biology claimed to have identified a rigidly policed border between the genetic material in the cell nucleus and the rest of the cell. Molecular biology was, in this sense, drawn into a form of intellectual Cold War. Johns Hopkins University Press 2012-06-01 Article PeerReviewed Marks, John (2012) Jacques Monod, François Jacob, and the Lysenko affair: boundary work. Esprit Créateur, 52 (2). pp. 75-88. ISSN 1931-0234 Lysenko Jacques Monod François Jacob Molecular Biology Genetics http://muse.jhu.edu/article/480034 doi:10.1353/esp.2012.0020 doi:10.1353/esp.2012.0020
spellingShingle Lysenko
Jacques Monod
François Jacob
Molecular Biology
Genetics
Marks, John
Jacques Monod, François Jacob, and the Lysenko affair: boundary work
title Jacques Monod, François Jacob, and the Lysenko affair: boundary work
title_full Jacques Monod, François Jacob, and the Lysenko affair: boundary work
title_fullStr Jacques Monod, François Jacob, and the Lysenko affair: boundary work
title_full_unstemmed Jacques Monod, François Jacob, and the Lysenko affair: boundary work
title_short Jacques Monod, François Jacob, and the Lysenko affair: boundary work
title_sort jacques monod, françois jacob, and the lysenko affair: boundary work
topic Lysenko
Jacques Monod
François Jacob
Molecular Biology
Genetics
url https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/34418/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/34418/
https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/34418/