Mitchellmemo40

Abstract 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. The study will primarily make use of ethnographic interviews with leading scientists in the field in order to map the major transformations underway within and surrounding the research program. The study will also make use of participant observation and a review of the primary scientific literature, policy documents and media reports regarding the field. The principal focus of the study encompasses the work of a small community of British researchers at Kings College London, Newark University, and Warwick University who were only recently (2007 and again in 2008) granted approval to conduct research combining the cellular material of humans and animals. The primary purpose of this study is to contribute to an understanding of the means by which new norms and ethics emerge from novel research programs where old norms and ethics are no longer satisfactory for addressing the complex issues, questions, and dilemmas engendered by such research. Specifically, this study seeks to create new knowledge on the effects of biotechnological/ bioscientific/ biomedical change on scientists’ ethical imaginaries and to create new knowledge on the manner in which a frontier science such as chimera research interacts with the society and culture that it is embedded within. This study will result chiefly in a dissertation leading to a PhD in Science and Technology Studies from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. In addition, this study will result in numerous presentations in science and technology studies, anthropology, and bioethical conferences, several articles and a book. Moreover, I hope to interact with scientists within the field regarding my research.