This divergence between embryology and genetics appears to have occurred for legitimate scientific reasons, but also as “a struggle for power and authority.” These disciplinary differences coincided with the eventual sides taken in the Second World War. That genetics ultimately emerged as the hegemonic victor in science just as the U.S. emerged as the global hegemon after the war, is not merely coincidental.
Tag: T.H. Morgan
Epigenetics in Science magazine
by Shea Robison (@EpigeneticsGuy) Consider the number of articles on genetics published by Science over the past fifty years: The number of articles per year was relatively steady through the 1960s and 1970s, climbed steadily through the 1980s, and appears to have peaked in the mid '90s. Although comparing genetics and epigenetics is kind of like apples … Continue reading Epigenetics in Science magazine
History, Part II: Epigenetics and the Politics of Science
by Shea Robison (@EpigeneticsGuy) As discussed in the previous post in this series, if epigenetics had been accepted into the mainstream of genetics at this early stage of its development, epigenetics likely would have been incorporated into the overall theoretical structure of genetics without too much disruption. Instead, for many years the field of modern genetics disqualified epigenetics … Continue reading History, Part II: Epigenetics and the Politics of Science
