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Related Experiment Videos

[Genetics: still a discipline?].

Jean Gayon1

  • 1Université Paris 1-Panthéon-Sorbonne, Institut d'histoire et de philosophie des sciences et des techniques, 17, rue de la Sorbonne, 75006 Paris, France. gayon@noos.fr

Medecine Sciences : M/S
|March 5, 2004
PubMed
Summary
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Genetics is still an institutional discipline but lacks a clear intellectual definition. The concept of the gene has become increasingly complex, making a universal definition elusive.

Area of Science:

  • Genetics and Molecular Biology
  • History and Philosophy of Science

Context:

  • The traditional definition of a gene as a DNA sequence coding for a protein has been challenged.
  • Developments in molecular genetics have complicated the concept of the gene.

Purpose:

  • To analyze the current state of genetics as a scientific discipline.
  • To examine the intellectual and institutional definitions of genetics and the gene.

Summary:

  • Genetics functions as a discipline institutionally (e.g., through academic structures).
  • Intellectually, genetics struggles with a unified concept of the gene, a situation exacerbated by molecular biology.
  • A precise, universal definition of the gene remains unattainable due to evolving scientific understanding.

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Impact:

  • Highlights the pragmatic reasons (communication, economics, ideology) for retaining the term 'gene'.
  • Suggests a potential crisis in the conceptual foundations of genetics.
  • Underscores the importance of conceptual clarity in scientific disciplines.