Book ID: CBB001552207

Gene Jockeys: Life Science and the Rise of Biotech Enterprise (2014)

unapi

Rasmussen, Nicolas (Author)


Johns Hopkins University Press


Publication Date: 2014
Physical Details: 264 pp.; ill.
Language: English

The biotech arena emerged in the 1970s and 1980s, when molecular biology, one of the fastest-moving areas of basic science in the twentieth century, met the business world. Gene Jockeys is a detailed study of the biotech projects that led to five of the first ten recombinant DNA drugs to be approved for medical use in the United States: human insulin, human growth hormone, alpha interferon, erythropoietin, and tissue plasminogen activator. Drawing on corporate documents obtained from patent litigation, as well as interviews with the ambitious biologists who called themselves gene jockeys, historian Nicolas Rasmussen chronicles the remarkable, and often secretive, work of the scientists who built a new domain between academia and the drug industry in the pursuit of intellectual rewards and big payouts. In contrast to some who critique the rise of biotechnology, Rasmussen contends that biotech was not a swindle, even if the public did pay a very high price for the development of what began as public scientific resources. Within the biotech enterprise, the work of corporate scientists went well beyond what biologists had already accomplished within universities, and it accelerated the medical use of the new drugs by several years. In his technically detailed and readable narrative, Rasmussen focuses on the visible and often heavy hands that construct and maintain the markets in public goods like science. He looks closely at how science follows money, and vice versa, as researchers respond to the pressures and potential rewards of commercially viable innovations. In biotechnology, many of those engaged in crafting markets for genetically engineered drugs were biologists themselves who were in fact trying to do science. {Metadata} {Begin} This book captures that heady, fleeting moment when a biologist could expect to do great science through the private sector and be rewarded with both wealth and scientific acclaim.

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Reviewed By

Review Berris Charnley (2016) Review of "The Recombinant University: Genetic Engineering and the Emergence of Stanford Biotechnology". Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part C: Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences (pp. 109-113). unapi

Review Lyle Fearnley (July 2016) Review of "Gene Jockeys: Life Science and the Rise of Biotech Enterprise". Technology and Culture (pp. 700-701). unapi

Review Erik L. Peterson (2015) Review of "Gene Jockeys: Life Science and the Rise of Biotech Enterprise". Studies in History and Philosophy of Science (pp. 124-126). unapi

Review Bruno J. Strasser (2016) Review of "Gene Jockeys: Life Science and the Rise of Biotech Enterprise". Bulletin of the History of Medicine (pp. 185-186). unapi

Review Sally Smith Hughes (2015) Review of "Gene Jockeys: Life Science and the Rise of Biotech Enterprise". Social History of Medicine (pp. 415-416). unapi

Review Joseph November (2016) Review of "Gene Jockeys: Life Science and the Rise of Biotech Enterprise". Isis: International Review Devoted to the History of Science and Its Cultural Influences (pp. 206-208). unapi

Review Berman, Elizabeth Popp (2015) Review of "Gene Jockeys: Life Science and the Rise of Biotech Enterprise". American Historical Review (pp. 675-676). unapi

Review Nelson, Nicole C. (2015) Review of "Gene Jockeys: Life Science and the Rise of Biotech Enterprise". Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences (pp. 481-483). unapi

Review Kahn, Jonathan (2015) Review of "Gene Jockeys: Life Science and the Rise of Biotech Enterprise". European Legacy (pp. 1352-1353). unapi

Review Weber, Thomas P. (2015) Review of "Gene Jockeys: Life Science and the Rise of Biotech Enterprise". British Journal for the History of Science (pp. 717-719). unapi

Citation URI
https://data.isiscb.org/isis/citation/CBB001552207/

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Authors & Contributors
Luk, Yi Lai Christine
Jones, Mark Peter
Hughes, Sally Smith
Zimmer, Carl
Umemura, Maki
Smart, Andrew
Concepts
Biotechnology industry
Pharmaceutical industry
Genetics
DNA; RNA
Biotechnology
Biology
Time Periods
20th century, late
21st century
20th century
19th century
Places
United States
Great Britain
Hong Kong
Japan
Spain
France
Institutions
United States. Patent Office
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