Biotechnology in the Twentieth Century

Abstract

Why has the term `biotechnology' been so ambiguous, while hopes for the subject have been so high? Exploring biotechnology's historic role as a `boundary object' between engineering and biology offers an explanation. The word is shown to have been interpreted in a variety of ways since the beginning of the century. Here the translations and negotiations over its identity are uncovered, showing that the words Biotechnik and Biotechnologie were poineered around World War I, principally in Denmark, Germany and Hungary. Those ideas were used and modified in the writings and institutions of engineers and biologists in Britain, Sweden and the USA. The 1960s are identified as the period in which biotechnology acquired a single identity, but alternative meanings were in conflict and then merged in the 1970s and 1980s. The analysis suggests that the concept of a `biotechnology' is deeply entrenched in twentieth-century culture, and that current debates over regulation can be seen in terms of uncertainties over the proper boundary between engineering and biology.

How did uncommon disorders become ‘rare diseases’? History of a boundary object

“…This now classical concept has proved extremely inspiring for science and technology studies scholars, eliciting a large body of studies, to the extent that ‘it might even be seen as itself something of a boundary object bridging different approaches’ in the field (Sismondo 2004: 148). Thus, it has provided insights regarding co‐ordination issues between different social worlds (Carter and Michael 2003), the changing shape of some objects, such as atherosclerosis (Mol 2002), in different settings, and the failure or the success of some innovations (Novek 2002, Bud 1991), according to whether they could be enacted as boundary objects or not. Further theoretical developments followed two distinct strands and gave birth to a host of related concepts.…”

The Dynamics of Material Artifacts in Collaborative Research Teams

“…For instance, shortly after Star and Griesemer (1989) initially proposed the concept of boundary objects, Bud (1991) observed that the term "biotechnology" serves as a boundary object between biology and engineering domains. He noted that while the meaning of the term was highly ambiguous, the innovative conceptual linkages that emerged surrounding it led to a range of new interdisciplinary approaches.…”

Non-governmental organizations, strategic bridge building, and the “scientization” of organic agriculture in Kenya

“…Case studies of the creation and use of boundary objects abound in the literature (e.g., Harvey and Chrisman, 1998;Bud, 1991;Balmer, 1996;Henderson, 1991;Frost et al, 2002). The boundary object concept has even been applied to organic compost.…”