Interdisciplinary voices reflect on some of the most complex and consequential scientific undertakings of our time
Perspectives on the Human Genome Project and Genomics is a groundbreaking volume that examines the pivotal roles of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI) in the Human Genome Project (HGP) and the development of other major genomics projects. Drawing on newly uncovered archival materials and oral histories from NHGRI, this volume offers a multifaceted narrative of some of the most transformative scientific achievements of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries.
Coeditors Christopher R. Donohue and Alan C. Love bring together a range of perspectives on the HGP’s progress and legacy, as well as other major genomics projects, to explore not only their scientific achievements but also their social and political dimensions. Presenting reflections from historians, philosophers, and sociologists alongside those of key NHGRI scientists like Eric Green, Mark Guyer, and Elise Feingold; experts like Nature editor-in-chief Magdalena Skipper and geneticist Eric Vilain; and scholars of the ethical, legal, and social implications of genomics like Jean McEwan and Joy Boyer, Perspectives on the Human Genome Project and Genomics highlights the international, interdisciplinary collaborations and collective long view that underpinned these genomics initiatives aimed at a better understanding of our basic biology and genetic diseases.
From genomic variation and sequencing technologies to the integration of big data and the influence of ancestry and gender, this book is an essential resource for deepening the discussion of the scientific, historical, and ethical impacts of genomics and a fascinating collection of insights into coordinated science in the making.
Contributors: Rina Bliss, Joy Boyer, Lisa D. Brooks, Michel Dubois, Elise A. Feingold, Adam Felsenfeld, Miguel García-Sancho, Eric Green, Catherine Guaspare, Chris Gunter, Stephan Guttinger, Mark Guyer, Elke Jordan, Jonathan E. LoTempio Jr., Jean McEwen, Jane Peterson, Anya Plutynski, Ramya M. Rajagopalan, Emanuele Ratti, Sahotra Sarkar, Jeffery A. Schloss, Magdalena Skipper, Alexandra Soulier, Thomas Stoeger, Eric Vilain, Kris A. Wetterstrand.
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Christopher R. Donohue cofounded the History of Genomics Program in 2012 and served as the historian of the National Human Genome Research Institute at the National Institutes of Health until 2025. He is coeditor, with Charles Wolfe, of Vitalism and Its Legacy in Twentieth Century Life Sciences and Philosophy.
Alan C. Love is Distinguished McKnight University Professor of Philosophy and Winton Chair in the Liberal Arts at the University of Minnesota, as well as director of the Minnesota Center for Philosophy of Science. He is coeditor of Beyond the Meme: Development and Structure in Cultural Evolution (Minnesota, 2019).
