"Paul Rabinow paints a . . . picture of the process of discovery in Making PCR: A Story of Biotechnology
[and] teases out every possible detail. . . . Makes for an intriguing read that raises many questions about our
understanding of the twisting process of discovery itself."
--David Bradley, New Scientist
"Rabinow's book belongs to a burgeoning genre: ethnographic studies of what scientists actually do in the
lab. . . . A bold move."
--Daniel Zalewski, Lingua Franca
"[Making PCR is] exotic territory, biomedical research, explored. . . . Rabinow describes a dance: the immigration
and repatriation of scientists to and from the academic and business worlds."
--Nancy Maull, New York Times Book Review
The University of Chicago Press Web Site, September, 2000
Summary
Making PCR is the fascinating, behind-the-scenes account of the invention of one of the most significant biotech
discoveries in our time--the polymerase chain reaction. Transforming the practice and potential of molecular biology,
PCR extends scientists' ability to identify and manipulate genetic materials and accurately reproduces millions
of copies of a given segment in a short period of time. It makes abundant what was once scarce--the genetic material
required for experimentation.
Making PCR explores the culture of biotechnology as it emerged at Certus Corporation during the 1980s and focuses
on its distinctive configuration of scientific, technical, social, economic, political, and legal elements, each
of which had its own separate trajectory over the preceding decade. The book contains interviews with the remarkable
cast of characters who made PCR, including Kary Mullin, the maverick who received the Nobel prize for "discovering"
it, as well as the team of young scientists and the company's business leaders.
This book shows how a contingently assembled practice emerged, composed of distinctive subjects, the site where
they worked, and the object they invented.
Subjects:
Biological Sciences: Natural History
Medical Science
Biological Sciences: Evolutionary Biology
History of Science
Table of Contents
Introduction
1: Toward Biotechnology
2: Cetus Corporation: A Credible Force
3: PCR: Experimental Milieu + the Concept
4: From Concept to Tool
5: Reality Check
Conclusion: A Simple Little Thing
Photographs
A Note on the Interviews
Acknowledgments
Notes
Bibliography
