The field of research that came to be known as “genomics” emerged in the 1980s from various initiatives dedicated to the genetic or physical mapping of chromosomes and to DNA sequencing. It has since become a prominent field of research in molecular biology, associated with various promises ranging from the development of new therapeutic drugs (and in particular cancer therapies) to expected renewals of the scientific understanding of genetics and biology in general. Several achievements have indeed been highly celebrated, such as the publication in 1995 of the first complete sequence of the genome of an organism (the genome of the bacteria Haemophilus influenzae), or the completion of the first phase of the human genome sequencing in 2001. Moreover, genomic research has evolved in close connection the simultaneous growth experienced in the biotechnology industry of which it has become a significant segment, and has thus elicited a considerable amount of interest from policy makers, private industry and the general public. Despite all the claims, expectations and praises, little is known about this field of research, whose importance for the general course of biology has yet to be evaluated and whose history remains to be written. My project at the institute therefore aims to further our understanding of the material, cultural and social history of genomics, through a combination of historical analysis and situated case studies.

The first phase of my research was focused on the material practices specific to genomics. It led me to propose a historiographical interpretation describing the course of genomics through the gradual development and differentiation of managerial skills, coupled with objectifications of scientific work: Quantifications of its productivity became the basis for various rationalizations aimed at decreasing production costs, through automation and rational organization of labor division. Issues of productivity tended to become the dominant concern of actors in this field, in which rewards were highly dependant on priority claims. Since each of those dimensions was alternatively mobilized by the actors in the course of their work, the study of the very processes of production in different contexts led me to a description seamlessly linking together the cognitive dimensions of genomics, the evolution of its specific cultural norms, the administrative frameworks of the genome projects, the political choices of science administrators with respect to different production models, the division of labor in specialized facilities or in networks of collaborating laboratories, the evolution of instrumentation and skills in the laboratories, the exchange practices and the use of legal regulations such as patents or contracts. In this interpretative framework, I was also able to propose an alternative interpretation of the alleged transition of genomics from sequencing to functional analysis, showing how the production skills and technologies which were developed to achieve greater productivity in mapping and sequencing were keys in the appearance of this “second genomic.”

This first phase of my research forms the basis of several developments that I am now pursuing. For instance, I am extending my analysis of the material practices of genomics. This will be achieved partly through studies of technologies, automation and production processes, but also by investigating the development of managerial skills with their own specific sets of techniques. A comparative work could lead to a better understanding of the role of local factors in the establishment of production facilities with respect to different political, social and historical constraints. The German context is very interesting from this point of view, with a great number of scientists who have been involved in technological developments from an early stage aiming to automate library and data management in various European institutions. Moreover, the German Human Genome Project comprises several interesting features that are found in many genome projects, such as the creation of centralized resource management facilities and the organization of networks of collaborating laboratories as a way to manage collective research projects.

A different but related line of inquiry questions the links between the “industrialization” of genomics in automated facilities and the industrialization of other bioprocesses (vaccine production, screening of chemicals, drug development etc.). The importance of scale-up procedures for industrial needs has of course been analyzed for a variety of biomedical products, yet it seems to remain far more elusive with regard to molecular genetics itself, whose industrial applications are generally described through the prism of technical innovations, enabling technologies, legal regulations, science privatization or social issues.

Lastly, I am studying the role of computerization in the history of genomics, which remains very clearly one of the weakest points in most items of research conducted on the history or sociology of genomics, and whose extent or significance is presently very difficult to evaluate. My previous research led me to conclude that this question should not only be studied in itself, but should also be understood in connection with production practices in general and linked to the processes of labor division, automation, specialization of production facilities, resource management and material circulations among laboratory network.