On body-environment continuities from a laboratory commensalism

Area of Science:

• Neurogenetics
• Phenomenology
• Philosophy of Science

Background:

• Post-genomic science emphasizes a turn towards environmental interactions.
• Understanding laboratory practices requires examining the engagement between practitioners and their environment.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate how laboratory members engage with body-environment continuities in neural genetics research.
• To analyze the design of experimental chambers for an optogenetics study involving fruit flies.
• To explore the phenomenological aspects of scientific practice, particularly immediate experience.

Main Methods:

• Ethnographic observation of everyday practices in a neural genetics laboratory.
• Focus on the design of experimental chambers for optogenetics.
• Analysis of scientists' embodied experiences and their engagement with the environment.

Main Results:

• Practices in neural genetics reveal a focus on the environment and body-environment continuities.
• The design process for experimental chambers highlights the spatial character of olfaction.
• Scientists' accounts exhibit qualities of immediate experience, aligning with C.S. Peirce's category of Firstness.

Conclusions:

• Noticing traces of Firstness in scientific practice allows for an engagement with the environment beyond mere action and meaning.
• Scientific environments are best understood as lived from within, involving embodied experiences and intersubjectivity.
• This perspective offers an orientation toward ecological preoccupations in scientific research.