The molecular vista: current perspectives on molecules and life in the twentieth century

History and Philosophy of the Life Sciences 43 (1):1-18 (2021)
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Abstract

This essay considers how scholarly approaches to the development of molecular biology have too often narrowed the historical aperture to genes, overlooking the ways in which other objects and processes contributed to the molecularization of life. From structural and dynamic studies of biomolecules to cellular membranes and organelles to metabolism and nutrition, new work by historians, philosophers, and STS scholars of the life sciences has revitalized older issues, such as the relationship of life to matter, or of physicochemical inquiries to biology. This scholarship points to a novel molecular vista that opens up a pluralist view of molecularizations in the twentieth century and considers their relevance to current science.

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Author Profiles

Emily Sarah
York University
Daniel Liu
Ludwig Maximilians Universität, München

Citations of this work

Of Some Paradoxes in the Historiography of Molecular Biology.Soraya de Chadarevian - 2022 - Berichte Zur Wissenschaftsgeschichte 45 (3):462-467.
Covid-19 and the need for more history and philosophy of RNA.Stephan Guttinger - 2021 - History and Philosophy of the Life Sciences 43 (2):1-6.
Of Some Paradoxes in the Historiography of Molecular Biology.Soraya Chadarevian - 2022 - Berichte Zur Wissenschaftsgeschichte 45 (3):462-467.

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