This Article Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: 0963662507078016v1 18/1/43    most recent References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in ISI Web of Science Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Evans, R. Articles by Langer, S. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                   What's this?

Just around the corner: rhetorics of progress and promise in genetic research

Cardiff School of Social Sciences

Inna Kotchetkova

Susanne Langer

Cardiff University-based qualitative methods node (QUALITI) of the ESRC National Centre for Research Methods

The emerging "diabetes epidemic" threatens to affect 366 million people worldwide by 2030. In the UK, almost 2 million people (about 3.9 percent of the population) are currently diagnosed with diabetes and it is estimated that a further 1 million people have the disease but do not realize it. The prevalence of diabetes, its complications and their effects on the lives of those living with diabetes mean that diabetes research has the potential to bring significant benefits. In this paper, we are concerned with the research involving human embryonic stem (HES) cells that sees diabetes as a potential therapeutic location. Drawing on the idea of the "certainty trough" we examine how the hopes and uncertainties associated with this complex research agenda are understood. We show that those at the research front and those most opposed to the research agenda appear to be the most aware of the uncertainties that need to be resolved. In contrast, funders, typically one-step removed from the research work, see the promise of the research as more real and more likely to be achieved. Significantly, these optimistic funders are supported in their beliefs by the research scientists as constitutive claims are reproduced within the contingent forum. The effect is a collaborative project in which the promise of a technical solution "just around the corner" is sustained whilst concerns about the future difficulties are marginalized.

Because the science is so new, we are very hopeful that breakthroughs, particularly using cells in the pancreas for the treatment of diabetes, are on the horizon.

This version was published on January 1, 2009

Public Understanding of Science, Vol. 18, No. 1, 43-59 (2009)
DOI: 10.1177/0963662507078016


CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this?