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Updated: Aug 29, 2025

Author Spotlight: Integrating Computational and Experimental Approaches in Precision Oncology
Published on: December 1, 2023
Approaches in Post-Experimental Science. The Case of Precision Medicine
1Institute for History of Medicine and Science Studies, University of Lübeck.
Abstract:
In the introduction to his Spalt und Fuge, Hans-Jörg Rheinberger points to the possibility that we are currently experiencing a new turning point regarding forms of experimentation, which is characterized by the growing importance of high-throughput methods and big data analytics. This essay will explore the thesis that data-intensive research indeed constitutes a form of post-experimental research by interrogating research practices in precision medicine. Section 1 will introduce this thesis and highlight salient features of precision medicine as an example of post-experimental research. Section 2 suggests approach as a category that is broader than experimental system, as discussed by Rheinberger, and can serve to analyze and compare diverse forms of research, including experimental and post-experimental practices. The essay concludes with a reflection on how categories developed for the historiography of recent science might require an update when the science or its context changes (section 3).
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