public engagement with medical genetics

It's easy to forget, when we just look at examples of science communication, that there is an academic field focussing on the interactions between science and its publics. People do the kind of ethnographic work that Bruno Latour did on public engagement with science. (As well as Alice and mine's weird and wonderful research.) We run a research seminar to showcase some of this research - from inside and outside the SCG. This Wednesday Dr Alex Plows is coming along to talk: if anyone is interested let me know and I can give you the room details. Her seminar abstract is below...

"Snap-shotting" public engagement with medical genetics (genomics): overview of key findings and issues

The talk will feedback the findings of a 3 year research project 'the emerging politics of human genetic technologies' - ethnographic/ qualitative research - see www.lancs.ac.uk/fss/cesagen/politics/

Medical genetics (genomics) is a broad, complex and rapidly developing field comprising many different (potential) applications- biobanking, genetic testing, etc. Multiple publics are engaging with medical genetics in many different ways. This talk will provide an overview of key "prime mover" groups and networks, identifying key issues and core frames. A core finding is that to construct any actor group as simply "pro" or "anti" biotechnology fails to map the sophistication, range, context- dependency, and cultural and political situated-ness, of actor responses (see Irwin and Wynne 1996, Wynne 1995, Bauer and Gaskell 2003).