Article ID: CBB000850283

The Rhetoric of Informational Molecules: Authority and Promises in the Early Study of Molecular Evolution (2007)

unapi

This paper explores the connection between the epistemic and the political dimensions of the metaphor of information during the early days of the study of Molecular Evolution. While preserving some of the meanings already documented in the history of molecular biology, the metaphor acquired a new, powerful use as a substitute for history. A rhetorical analysis of Emilé Zuckerkandl's paper, Molecules as Documents of Evolutionary History, highlights the ways in which epistemic claims on the validity and superiority of molecular evidence for evolution were intimately connected with authority issues in evolutionary biology. The debate is situated within the framework of the battle for resources between traditional evolutionists and molecular biologists at the beginning of the 1960s. The architects of evolutionary synthesis questioned the idea that molecular characters constitute cleaner and more direct evidence of evolution. Nevertheless, the information discourse constituted a productive space for the development of a new research program that, paradoxically, has made explicit the limitations of the information metaphor in reconstructing life's history.

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Authors & Contributors
Suárez-Díaz, Edna
Dietrich, Michael R.
Herring, Emily
Christine Batut-Hourquebie
Tallis, Raymond
Suárez Díaz, Edna María
Concepts
Evolution
Molecular biology
Rhetoric in scientific discourse
Molecular evolution
Genetics
Darwinism
Time Periods
20th century, late
21st century
20th century
Early modern
Modern
20th century, early
Places
United States
France
Great Britain
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