Mitchellmemo41

Overview This study will document and analyze recent developments in embryonic stem cell research, focusing on research involving the creation of “chimeras”, which are human/animal cellular mixtures that serve as a tool and technique in the genesis of stem cell treatments. Making use of ethnographic interviews with leading scientists in the field, participant observation, and a review of the primary scientific literature and policy documents, this study will map the major transformations underway within the field, with a particular focus on the ethical imaginaries of the scientists involved. Primarily, this study seeks to understand the way in which new norms and ethics emerge from novel research programs where old norms are no longer adequate to address many of the complex issues, questions, and dilemmas engendered by such research. Specifically, the goals of this study include: 1. Create new knowledge about the effects of biotechnological/ bioscientific/ biomedical change on scientists’ ethical imaginaries. Specific contributions include: a. Describe and analyze how scientists deal with the ambiguities engendered by new techniques and practices b. Describe and analyze how new norms and ethics take shape in a “frontier” science c. Describe and analyze how scientists imagine their work in relation to broader societal and ethical issues d. Describe and analyze the manner in which scientists maintain boundaries in their work (e.g. between human and animal) 2. Create new knowledge about the manner in which a frontier science such as chimera research interacts with the society and culture that it is embedded within. Specific contributions include: a. Describe and analyze scientists interaction with the public, media, politicians and regulators b. Describe and analyze public views of the issues engendered by such research, paying particular attention to any shifts that occur c. Describe and analyze the manner in which scientists understand and respond to public concerns regarding such research d. Describe and analyze the researchers in a frontier field are both constrained and enabled by working in such a space This study will link several literatures including STS, cultural anthropology, bioethics, and animal studies; paying particular attention to scientific imaginaries, boundary making, and biopolitics. In practical terms, this study provides a timely study of a heretofore-understudied phenomenon that will be vital to understanding and answering many questions essential for any twenty-first century society’s ability to handle the enormous changes wrought by the changes and developments in the biosciences. Ethnographic methods will be used for conducting the proposed research in order to draw out detailed experiences of the scientists involved in chimera research. Approximately 60 ethnographic interviews will be conducted with leading scientists in the field and other individuals with direct impact on the research, such as regulators. A detailed participant observation and lab study will also be conducted at the stem cell research lab at Kings College London, a leading lab in the U.K. and one of only three granted a license to engage in human/animal chimera research in order to obtain a comprehensive feel for the practice itself. A survey of the primary literature and media reporting in order to understand the political and discursive context of the field will be another important study component. This study will result in conference presentations, journal articles, a book, and my Ph.D. dissertation in the STS department at the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI).