Dissertation Research: Science as Social Action: The Search for the Hematopoietic Stem Cell

Indiana University, Bloomington IN

Investigators

Abstract

The aim of this Dissertation Improvement Grant in the Social Studies of Science is to travel to multiple sites in order to conduct personal interviews with and examine the working habits of prominent actors involved in hematopoietic stem cell research in Irving L. Weissman's laboratory between 1978 and the present. This project builds on the results of earlier research, including a previous interview and visit to the research site (at Stanford University Medical Center). The proposed interviews and campus visits are crucial to a detailed empirical case study of the dynamics of research in cellular immunology. The case study, in turn, is part of a larger integrative study of social interactions and scientific progress. Proposed interviewees include researchers at Stanford University; Dynavax Technologies, University of California Irvine, The Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Duke University, University of Michigan and the University of Utah. These individuals were selected because of their roles in key theoretical or technical innovations in the Weissman lab research program aimed at isolating and characterizing stem cells of the immune system and blood. This research program is examined from its experimental and conceptual roots in the 1940s, through the technological innovations of the 1970s and 1980s, to the ongoing conceptual and clinical ramifications of hematopoietic stem cell research. The case study focuses on the role of collaborative and competitive interactions within and between social groups of researchers, drawing on published sources, interviews with participants, and unpublished notes. Interviews will concentrate on the collaborative and competitive interactions within and between laboratory groups; planned questions include: Was there competition with other lab groups, to be first to isolate the hematopoietic stem cell (HSC)? If so, who were the competitors (whole labs, or particular members)? How did this research link to other areas of biomedical research? Campus visits will supplement the personal interviews, indicating working routines and key social interactions operating on a day to day basis. This study integrates a number of important insights from different areas of inquiry. It reexamines the classic issue of the aim and structure of science in light of recent developments in philosophy (social epistemology), sociology of science (social constructivism), and immunology (stem cell research). Philosophical analysis is used to articulate an integrative framework, within which these different strands of inquiry can be productively combined. The end result is a principled account of scientific inquiry, which can be applied to specific episodes for the purpose of effective criticism. This project dovetails well with emerging areas of interest in philosophy and sociology of science, and will thus set the stage for future collaborations. The integrative approach allows important recent insights in philosophy and sociology of science to be consolidated and extended. The result will be a detailed and rigorous account of social epistemic norms of science which can be fruitfully applied to scientific episodes by both theorists and policy-makers. The study will improve our understanding of the workings of recent biomedical research, and of stem cell research in particular. A number of forums exist for dissemination of results, and a natural avenue of expansion for the project is provided by social network analysis, already a focus of much research at Indiana University. The case study will improve understanding of the development of the current biomedical 'identity' of stem cells, and thereby contribute to more informed and helpful public discussions of stem cell research in particular, and of biomedicine in general.