The Politics of a Scientific Meeting: The Origin-of-AIDS Debate at the Royal Society

Abstract

The Royal Society of London held a scientific meeting in September 2000 focusing on two theories of the origin of AIDS: one, that it occurred through “natural transfer” of immunodeficiency virus from monkeys or chimpanzees to humans; and the other, that it occurred through iatrogenic transfer via contaminated polio vaccines used in Africa in the late 1950s. This meeting was the culmination of years of public contention over the polio-vaccine theory. Several dimensions of the politics of science are revealed by analysis of this issue, including the power of scientific editors, the use of the mass media, decisions regarding selection of speakers and organization of the meeting, and epistemological assumptions made by participants.

Origins of the HIVs and the AIDS Outbreaks

“…(Wertheim 2009) Researchers quickly turned to another explanation first suggested at a meeting in London in 2000 to review the Hooper thesis. (Martin 2001) A summary of the new explanation is that a hunter in Cameroon was infected from a cut while butchering a chimp with SIV. He then made his way down the Sangha River to the Congo, where the urban setting of Leopoldville (later renamed Kinshasa) became the "epicenter" of the AIDS epidemic.…”

Oswaldo Cruz e a controvérsia da sorologia

“…O caso da sorologia brasileira se aproxima de um estudo recente conduzido por Brian Martin (2001a), acerca da controvérsia sobre o surgimento da síndrome da imunodeficiência adquirida (Aids). 27 De acordo com o autor, duas teorias sobre o surgimento dessa doença se enfrentaram na década de 1990.…”

Guest Editorial

“…Some work to produce writings aimed at more popular, less specialized audiences (e.g. Collins & Pinch, 1998Alder, 2002;Galison, 2003;Shapin, 2005aShapin, , 2005cShapin, , 2006, while others take active and admirable roles in high profile court cases and policy decisions involving scientific controversies like Intelligent Design (see Jones, 2005), DNA fingerprinting (see Lynch & Cole, 2005), genetically modified crops (Winickoff et al, 2005), alternative energy (see Hess, 2005), and AIDS (see Epstein, 1996;Martin, 2005). Nevertheless, the relevance of STS scholarship to the broader public sphere remains to be seen.…”