The realness of risk: Gene technology in Germany

Social Studies of Science

Volumn 32, Issue 1, 2002, Pages 7-35

  Robins, Rosemary ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE   (Australia)

Author keywords

Actor network theory; Hoechst; Human insulin; Realism; Recombinant DNA debate; Relativism

Indexed keywords

INSULIN;

ARTICLE; GENETICS; GERMANY; HISTORY; MEDICAL TECHNOLOGY; RISK FACTOR;

GENETICS; GERMANY; HISTORY, 20TH CENTURY; INSULIN; RISK FACTORS; TECHNOLOGY, MEDICAL;

EID: 0036463789     PISSN: 03063127     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1177/0306312702032001002     Document Type: Article

References (80)

1. Annemarie Mol, 'Missing Links, Making Links: The Performances of Some Atheroscleroses', in Marc Berg and Annemarie Mol (eds), Differences in Medicine: Unraveling Practices, Techniques, and Bodies (Durham, NC & London: Duke University Press, 1998), 144-65; Annemarie Mol, 'Ontological Politics: A Word and Some Questions', in John Law and John Hassard (eds), Actor Network Theory and After (Oxford: Blackwell, 1999), 74-89.
2. Annemarie Mol, 'Missing Links, Making Links: The Performances of Some Atheroscleroses', in Marc Berg and Annemarie Mol (eds), Differences in Medicine: Unraveling Practices, Techniques, and Bodies (Durham, NC & London: Duke University Press, 1998), 144-65; Annemarie Mol, 'Ontological Politics: A Word and Some Questions', in John Law and John Hassard (eds), Actor Network Theory and After (Oxford: Blackwell, 1999), 74-89.
3. For this well established tenet of actor-network theory, see: Bruno Latour, 'Give Me a Laboratory and I will Raise the World', in Karin Knorr-Cetina and Michael Mulkay (eds), Science Observed: Perspectives on the Social Study of Science (London: Sage, 1983), 141-70; Michel Callon, 'The Sociology of an Actor-network: The Case of the Electric Vehicle', in Michel Callon, John Law and Arie Rip (eds), Mapping the Dynamics of Science and Technology (London: Macmillan, 1986), 19-34; Michel Callon, 'Some Elements of the Sociology of Translation: Domestication of the Scallops and the Fishermen of St Brieuc Bay', in John Law (ed.), Power, Action and Belief: A New Sociology of Knowledge? (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1986), 196-233.
4. For this well established tenet of actor-network theory, see: Bruno Latour, 'Give Me a Laboratory and I will Raise the World', in Karin Knorr-Cetina and Michael Mulkay (eds), Science Observed: Perspectives on the Social Study of Science (London: Sage, 1983), 141-70; Michel Callon, 'The Sociology of an Actor-network: The Case of the Electric Vehicle', in Michel Callon, John Law and Arie Rip (eds), Mapping the Dynamics of Science and Technology (London: Macmillan, 1986), 19-34; Michel Callon, 'Some Elements of the Sociology of Translation: Domestication of the Scallops and the Fishermen of St Brieuc Bay', in John Law (ed.), Power, Action and Belief: A New Sociology of Knowledge? (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1986), 196-233.
5. For this well established tenet of actor-network theory, see: Bruno Latour, 'Give Me a Laboratory and I will Raise the World', in Karin Knorr-Cetina and Michael Mulkay (eds), Science Observed: Perspectives on the Social Study of Science (London: Sage, 1983), 141-70; Michel Callon, 'The Sociology of an Actor-network: The Case of the Electric Vehicle', in Michel Callon, John Law and Arie Rip (eds), Mapping the Dynamics of Science and Technology (London: Macmillan, 1986), 19-34; Michel Callon, 'Some Elements of the Sociology of Translation: Domestication of the Scallops and the Fishermen of St Brieuc Bay', in John Law (ed.), Power, Action and Belief: A New Sociology of Knowledge) (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1986), 196-233.
6. Helen Verran, Science and an African Logic (Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press, 2001), 170-73.
7. RS Study Group, Report, Risk Analysis, Perception and Management (London: Royal Society, 1992), 6.
8. National Research Council, Committee on the Institutional Means for Assessment of Risks to Public Health, Risk Assessment in the Federal Government: Managing the Process (Washington, DC: National Academy Press, 1983), 7.
9. Sheldon Krimsky, 'The Role of Theory in Risk Studies', in Sheldon Krimsky and Dominic Golding (eds), Social Theories of Risk (Westport, CT: Praeger, 1992), 3-22, at 19-20.
10. A constructivist account of risk underlies a number of different approaches. For instance, Mary Douglas and Aaron Wildavsky, in Risk and Culture: An Essay on the Selection of Technical and Environmental Dangers (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1982), proposed a cultural theory of risk in which risk is constructed in relation to the cultural rationality and organizational bias of different societal groups. This work was given further application in Brandon B. Johnson and Vincent T. Covello (eds), The Social and Cultural Construction of Risk: Essays on Risk Selection and Perception (Dordrecht: Reidel, 1987). Other accounts of risk as a social construct include: Bayerische Rück (ed.), Risk is a Construct: Perceptions of Risk Perception (Munich: Knesebeck, 1983); Judith A. Bradbury, 'The Policy Implications of Differing Concepts of Risk', Science, Technology, & Human Values, Vol. 14, No. 4 (Autumn 1989), 380-99; Brian Wynne, 'May the Sheep Safely Graze? A Reflexive View of the Expert-Lay Knowledge Divide', in Scott Lash, Bronislaw Szerszynski and Brian Wynne (eds), Risk, Environment and Modernity: Towards a New Ecology (London: Sage, 1996), 44-83; Maarten A. Hajer, The Politics of Environmental Discourse: Ecological Modernization and the Policy Process (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1995).
11. A constructivist account of risk underlies a number of different approaches. For instance, Mary Douglas and Aaron Wildavsky, in Risk and Culture: An Essay on the Selection of Technical and Environmental Dangers (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1982), proposed a cultural theory of risk in which risk is constructed in relation to the cultural rationality and organizational bias of different societal groups. This work was given further application in Brandon B. Johnson and Vincent T. Covello (eds), The Social and Cultural Construction of Risk: Essays on Risk Selection and Perception (Dordrecht: Reidel, 1987). Other accounts of risk as a social construct include: Bayerische Rück (ed.), Risk is a Construct: Perceptions of Risk Perception (Munich: Knesebeck, 1983); Judith A. Bradbury, 'The Policy Implications of Differing Concepts of Risk', Science, Technology, & Human Values, Vol. 14, No. 4 (Autumn 1989), 380-99; Brian Wynne, 'May the Sheep Safely Graze? A Reflexive View of the Expert-Lay Knowledge Divide', in Scott Lash, Bronislaw Szerszynski and Brian Wynne (eds), Risk, Environment and Modernity: Towards a New Ecology (London: Sage, 1996), 44-83; Maarten A. Hajer, The Politics of Environmental Discourse: Ecological Modernization and the Policy Process (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1995).
12. A constructivist account of risk underlies a number of different approaches. For instance, Mary Douglas and Aaron Wildavsky, in Risk and Culture: An Essay on the Selection of Technical and Environmental Dangers (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1982), proposed a cultural theory of risk in which risk is constructed in relation to the cultural rationality and organizational bias of different societal groups. This work was given further application in Brandon B. Johnson and Vincent T. Covello (eds), The Social and Cultural Construction of Risk: Essays on Risk Selection and Perception (Dordrecht: Reidel, 1987). Other accounts of risk as a social construct include: Bayerische Rück (ed.), Risk is a Construct: Perceptions of Risk Perception (Munich: Knesebeck, 1983); Judith A. Bradbury, 'The Policy Implications of Differing Concepts of Risk', Science, Technology, & Human Values, Vol. 14, No. 4 (Autumn 1989), 380-99; Brian Wynne, 'May the Sheep Safely Graze? A Reflexive View of the Expert-Lay Knowledge Divide', in Scott Lash, Bronislaw Szerszynski and Brian Wynne (eds), Risk, Environment and Modernity: Towards a New Ecology (London: Sage, 1996), 44-83; Maarten A. Hajer, The Politics of Environmental Discourse: Ecological Modernization and the Policy Process (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1995).
13. A constructivist account of risk underlies a number of different approaches. For instance, Mary Douglas and Aaron Wildavsky, in Risk and Culture: An Essay on the Selection of Technical and Environmental Dangers (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1982), proposed a cultural theory of risk in which risk is constructed in relation to the cultural rationality and organizational bias of different societal groups. This work was given further application in Brandon B. Johnson and Vincent T. Covello (eds), The Social and Cultural Construction of Risk: Essays on Risk Selection and Perception (Dordrecht: Reidel, 1987). Other accounts of risk as a social construct include: Bayerische Rück (ed.), Risk is a Construct: Perceptions of Risk Perception (Munich: Knesebeck, 1983); Judith A. Bradbury, 'The Policy Implications of Differing Concepts of Risk', Science, Technology, & Human Values, Vol. 14, No. 4 (Autumn 1989), 380-99; Brian Wynne, 'May the Sheep Safely Graze? A Reflexive View of the Expert-Lay Knowledge Divide', in Scott Lash, Bronislaw Szerszynski and Brian Wynne (eds), Risk, Environment and Modernity: Towards a New Ecology (London: Sage, 1996), 44-83; Maarten A. Hajer, The Politics of Environmental Discourse: Ecological Modernization and the Policy Process (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1995).
14. A constructivist account of risk underlies a number of different approaches. For instance, Mary Douglas and Aaron Wildavsky, in Risk and Culture: An Essay on the Selection of Technical and Environmental Dangers (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1982), proposed a cultural theory of risk in which risk is constructed in relation to the cultural rationality and organizational bias of different societal groups. This work was given further application in Brandon B. Johnson and Vincent T. Covello (eds), The Social and Cultural Construction of Risk: Essays on Risk Selection and Perception (Dordrecht: Reidel, 1987). Other accounts of risk as a social construct include: Bayerische Rück (ed.), Risk is a Construct: Perceptions of Risk Perception (Munich: Knesebeck, 1983); Judith A. Bradbury, 'The Policy Implications of Differing Concepts of Risk', Science, Technology, & Human Values, Vol. 14, No. 4 (Autumn 1989), 380-99; Brian Wynne, 'May the Sheep Safely Graze? A Reflexive View of the Expert-Lay Knowledge Divide', in Scott Lash, Bronislaw Szerszynski and Brian Wynne (eds), Risk, Environment and Modernity: Towards a New Ecology (London: Sage, 1996), 44-83; Maarten A. Hajer, The Politics of Environmental Discourse: Ecological Modernization and the Policy Process (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1995).
15. A constructivist account of risk underlies a number of different approaches. For instance, Mary Douglas and Aaron Wildavsky, in Risk and Culture: An Essay on the Selection of Technical and Environmental Dangers (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1982), proposed a cultural theory of risk in which risk is constructed in relation to the cultural rationality and organizational bias of different societal groups. This work was given further application in Brandon B. Johnson and Vincent T. Covello (eds), The Social and Cultural Construction of Risk: Essays on Risk Selection and Perception (Dordrecht: Reidel, 1987). Other accounts of risk as a social construct include: Bayerische Rück (ed.), Risk is a Construct: Perceptions of Risk Perception (Munich: Knesebeck, 1983); Judith A. Bradbury, 'The Policy Implications of Differing Concepts of Risk', Science, Technology, & Human Values, Vol. 14, No. 4 (Autumn 1989), 380-99; Brian Wynne, 'May the Sheep Safely Graze? A Reflexive View of the Expert-Lay Knowledge Divide', in Scott Lash, Bronislaw Szerszynski and Brian Wynne (eds), Risk, Environment and Modernity: Towards a New Ecology (London: Sage, 1996), 44-83; Maarten A. Hajer, The Politics of Environmental Discourse: Ecological Modernization and the Policy Process (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1995).
16. For the concept of a 'circulating referent', see Bruno Latour, Pandora's Hope: Essays on the Reality of Science Studies (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1999), 24-79, 310. I refer to '"real risk" referents', as generalizations that guide practices of doing risk' at the local level, and argue that there are multiple referents and multiple risks.
17. Wolfgang van den Daele, 'Dealing with the Risks of Genetic Engineering as an Example of "Reflexive Modernization"?', New Genetics and Society, Vol. 18, No. 1 (April 1999), 65-77, at 70.
18. Here I refer to work that could be generally described as either actor-network theory or 'after' actor-network theory, such as: Bruno Latour, We Have Never Been Modern (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1993); Latour, Pandora's Hope, op. cit. note 8; John Law, Organizing Modernity (Oxford: Blackwell, 1994); and the collections of essays in Berg & Mol (eds) and Law & Hassard (eds), op. cit. note 1.
19. Here I refer to work that could be generally described as either actor-network theory or 'after' actor-network theory, such as: Bruno Latour, We Have Never Been Modern (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1993); Latour, Pandora's Hope, op. cit. note 8; John Law, Organizing Modernity (Oxford: Blackwell, 1994); and the collections of essays in Berg & Mol (eds) and Law & Hassard (eds), op. cit. note 1.
20. Here I refer to work that could be generally described as either actor-network theory or 'after' actor-network theory, such as: Bruno Latour, We Have Never Been Modern (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1993); Latour, Pandora's Hope, op. cit. note 8; John Law, Organizing Modernity (Oxford: Blackwell, 1994); and the collections of essays in Berg & Mol (eds) and Law & Hassard (eds), op. cit. note 1.
21. Here I refer to work that could be generally described as either actor-network theory or 'after' actor-network theory, such as: Bruno Latour, We Have Never Been Modern (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1993); Latour, Pandora's Hope, op. cit. note 8; John Law, Organizing Modernity (Oxford: Blackwell, 1994); and the collections of essays in Berg & Mol (eds) and Law & Hassard (eds), op. cit. note 1.
22. Mol (1999), 'Ontological Politics', op. cit. note 1, 74.
23. Verran, op. cit. note 3, 94; for a discussion of 'clotting', see ibid., 46.
24. Verran, op. cit. note 3, 94; for a discussion of 'clotting', see ibid., 46.
25. This paper arises out of research conducted for my doctoral dissertation, see Rosemary Robins, Representing Risk: An Actor-network Analysis of the Recombinant DNA Debate and the Dispute over Human Insulin Production in Germany (unpublished doctoral dissertation, School of Science & Technology Studies, University of New South Wales, 1996). The social and regulatory framing of risk in this dispute is the focus of Rosemary Robins, 'Overburdening Risk: Policy Frameworks and the Public Uptake of Gene Technology', Public Understanding of Science,Vol. 10, No, 1 (January 2001), 19-36.
26. This paper arises out of research conducted for my doctoral dissertation, see Rosemary Robins, Representing Risk: An Actor-network Analysis of the Recombinant DNA Debate and the Dispute over Human Insulin Production in Germany (unpublished doctoral dissertation, School of Science & Technology Studies, University of New South Wales, 1996). The social and regulatory framing of risk in this dispute is the focus of Rosemary Robins, 'Overburdening Risk: Policy Frameworks and the Public Uptake of Gene Technology', Public Understanding of Science,Vol. 10, No, 1 (January 2001), 19-36.
27. Peter Newmark, 'Insulin on Tap', Nature, Vol. 299 (23 September 1982), 293; Deborah Shapley, 'Human Insulin', Nature, Vol. 300 (11 November 1982), 100-01.
28. Peter Newmark, 'Insulin on Tap', Nature,Vol. 299 (23 September 1982), 293; Deborah Shapley, 'Human Insulin', Nature, Vol. 300 (11 November 1982), 100-01.
29. The procedure is described in Hoechst Aktiengesellschaft [HA], Insulin Produktion bei Hoechst - Erfahrungen und Perspektiven (Frankfurt-am-Main: Zentralabteilung Öffentlichkeitsarbeit, 1987); and in Der Regierungspräsident [DR], Der Widerspruchsbescheid des Regierungspräsidenten in Darmstadt (Darmstadt: Office of the Regierungspräsident, 7 July 1988), 22. References to subsequent quotations from these two documents in the main text of this paper will be located in [square brackets], with the documents referred to as 'HA' or 'DR', followed by the relevant page number(s).
30. The procedure is described in Hoechst Aktiengesellschaft [HA], Insulin Produktion bei Hoechst - Erfahrungen und Perspektiven (Frankfurt-am-Main: Zentralabteilung Öffentlichkeitsarbeit, 1987); and in Der Regierungspräsident [DR], Der Widerspruchsbescheid des Regierungspräsidenten in Darmstadt (Darmstadt: Office of the Regierungspräsident, 7 July 1988), 22. References to subsequent quotations from these two documents in the main text of this paper will be located in [square brackets], with the documents referred to as 'HA' or 'DR', followed by the relevant page number(s).
31. See note 15.
32. The two most comprehensive histories of this period are Sheldon Krimsky, Genetic Alchemy: The Social History of the Recombinant DNA Controversy (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1982), and Susan Wright, Molecular Politics: Developing American and British Regulatory Policy for Genetic Engineering 1972-1982 (Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press, 1994).
33. The two most comprehensive histories of this period are Sheldon Krimsky, Genetic Alchemy: The Social History of the Recombinant DNA Controversy (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1982), and Susan Wright, Molecular Politics: Developing American and British Regulatory Policy for Genetic Engineering 1972-1982 (Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press, 1994).
34. This question arose prior to the development of recombinant DNA techniques, when Paul Berg and his colleagues attempted to use non-rDNA methods to transport the monkey tumour virus SV40 into E.coli K12. Concerns about the potential biohazards of such research eventually led Berg to cancel his experiment. A similar incident occurred at the US National Institute for Allergies and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). In this case, Andrew Lewis became concerned about the distribution to other laboratories of a hybrid that had been constructed between the SV40 virus and an adenovirus that causes respiratory disease in humans. In both cases, the concern was that the modified E.coli K12 might be able to infect people working with the organism, and possibly spread that infection to the wider community. With the advent of rDNA techniques, the ability genetically to modify E.coli K12 became easier, and the biohazard potentially greater. As Susan Wright points out, the ability of genetically engineered E.coli K12 to become an epidemic pathogen was a central focus of the molecular biology community in their efforts to relax the guidelines that restricted rDNA research. See, in particular Susan Wright, 'Molecular Biology or Molecular Politics? The Production of Scientific Consensus on the Hazards of Recombinant DNA Technology', Social Studies of Science, Vol. 16, No. 4 (November 1986), 593-620.
35. For these and other details of the Committee's containment guidelines, see Krimsky, op. cit. note 17, esp. at (in turn) 188-90, 183 & 190.
36. Wright, op. cit. note 17, 359-63.
37. For 'trials of strength', see Bruno Latour, Science in Action (Milton Keynes, Bucks., UK: Open University Press, 1987), 78, 200.
38. Zentrale Kommission für Biologische Sicherheit (ZKBS). This was a national committee of experts whose task it was to assess the biosafety requirements of individual research projects that used gene technology, and recommend appropriate levels of biological and physical containment. The membership of the committee comprised scientists trained in molecular biology, microbiology, virology and other fields allied to gene technology, members of trade unions and members of professional associations.
39. Zentrale Kommission für Biologische Sicherheit, Bericht über die zurückliegende Amtsperiode der Zentralen Kommission für Biologische Sicherheit, 29.09.1981 bis 30.06. 1988 (Berlin: ZKBS, 1988).
40. Herbert Gottweis, Governing Molecules: The Discursive Politics of Genetic Engineering in Europe and the United States (Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1998), 137.
41. Bundesministerium für Forschung und Technologie, Richtlinien zum Schutz vor Gefahren, durch in vitro Neukombinierte Nukleinsäuren: in der Fassung vom 7. August 1981 (Bonn: Herausgegeben durch den Bundesminister für Forschung und Technologie, 1981).
42. I will henceforth use 'LP2B1' to designate the containment levels assigned to Fermtec by the Central Committee for Biological Safety.
43. Hoechst, Fachwissenschaftliche Stellungnahme zur Widerspruchsbegrundung der Rechtsanwälte Meißner und Neumann vom 8.12. und 16.12. 1987 (Frankfurt-am-Main: Hoechst A.G., 1988), 13. Subsequent quotations from this document will be referenced in the text as [Hoechst, page number].
44. At the local level, the Bundesimmissionsschutzgesetz is administered through the office of the Regierungspräsident, a local government official responsible for a sub-unit of the Land (State) - in this case, of Hessen.
45. The first of Hoechst's factories was established in the Frankfurt suburb of Höchst in 1863, and it is from this location that the company took its name: see Ernst Bäumler, Die Rotfabriker (Munich: Serie Piper, 1988).
46. There is no direct translation for 'Hoechster Schnüffler un Maagucker', but it can be described as follows: 'Hoechster' relates to the location of the group in the suburb of Höchst, as well as to the activities of the group as watchdogs of the Hoechst company; a 'Schnüffler' is a sleuth, or snooper; and the word 'Maagucker' is derived from two words - 'Maa', which is local slang for the river Main which runs through Höchst, and 'gucker', which is derived from the verb 'gucken', and means to look, or to peep. The combination 'Maagucker', therefore, refers to someone who looks into the river Main for signs of pollution. In summary, the 'Hoechster Schnüffler un Maagucker' are a group of citizens who reside in the suburb of Höchst and monitor environmental pollution from Hoechst's Frankfurt premises, particularly in the river Main and surrounding areas.
47. Höchster Schnüffler un Maagucker, Keine Gentechnisch Manipulierten Bakterien in Höchst (Frankfurt-am-Main: HSuM, 1987), 1.
48. Cases of opposition such as this are known in German as Widersprüche and permitted under the German law Verwaltungsverfahrensgesetz (VwGO). This law was used by citizen groups prior to the Hoechst case, in particular to oppose the building of nuclear power stations. The Schnüffler lodged three Widersprüche: one against Fermtec, one against Chemtec, and another in the form of a petition signed by over 300 citizens against the facility as a whole (the latter was rejected).
49. By the time the Schnüffler entered into this more formal process of opposition, the local authority had approved Chemtec as a trial facility. The Schnüffler presented two cases of opposition, one against Fermtec and the other against Chemtec. In this paper, I focus only on the case made against Fermtec, in which the risks of gene technology were implicated.
50. See note 27.
51. Lutz Meißner und Hans Neumann, Genehmigungsverfahren Hoechst AG, Werk Frankjurt-Höchst, Produktionsanlage zur Herstellung von Humaninsulin-Fusionsprotein aus E.coli (Fermtec) Az.:IV 5/32-53 e 621-FWH -327. Widersprüche der Herrn Barth, Kirchner, Goldberg und Schuster vom 30.10.3 11.1. und 20.11.1987 sowie von Frau Pfahl vom 16.1.1987 (Frankfurt-am-Main: Lutz Meißner & Hans Neumann Rechsanwälte), 11. Subsequent quotations from this document will be referenced in the text as [M&N].
52. For example, the first worst-case risk experiments conducted during the rDNA debate were designed to assess the containment potential of E.coli K12. In these experiments, polyoma DNA was inserted into E.coli K12, and this construct was then used to populate newborn germ-free mice. The mice were monitored for signs of infection. The broad aim of the experiments was to investigate the extent to which DNA could be transferred in a functional state from E.coli K12 to mammalian cells under natural conditions. See Krimsky, op. cit. note 17, 244-63.
53. See note 35.
54. Here the Schnüffler cited Monica A. Devanas, Devorah Rafaeli-Eshkol and Guenther Stotzky, 'Survival of Plasmid-containing Strains of Escherichia coli in Soil: Effect of Plasmid Size and Nutrients on Survival of Hosts and Maintenance of Plasmids', Current Microbiology, Vol. 13 (1986), 269-77, and Monica A. Devanas and Guenther Stotzky, 'Fate in Soil of a Recombinant Plasmid Carrying a Drosophila Gene', ibid., 279-83.
55. Here the Schnüffler cited Monica A. Devanas, Devorah Rafaeli-Eshkol and Guenther Stotzky, 'Survival of Plasmid-containing Strains of Escherichia coli in Soil: Effect of Plasmid Size and Nutrients on Survival of Hosts and Maintenance of Plasmids', Current Microbiology, Vol. 13 (1986), 269-77, and Monica A. Devanas and Guenther Stotzky, 'Fate in Soil of a Recombinant Plasmid Carrying a Drosophila Gene', ibid., 279-83.
56. Here the Schnüffler cited K.P. Flint, 'The Long-term Survival of Escherichia coli in River Water', Journal of Applied Bacteriology, Vol. 63 (1987), 261-70.
57. The Schnüffler cited Devanas, Rafaeli-Eshkol & Stotzky, op. cit. note 38; two papers by G.K. Bissonnette, J.J. Jezeski, G.A. McFeters and D.G. Stuart, 'Influence of Environmental Stress on Enumeration of Indicator Bacteria from Natural Waters', Applied Microbiology, Vol. 29, No. 2 (February 1975), 186-94, and 'Evaluation of Recovery Methods to Detect Coliforms in Water', Applied and Environmental Microbiology, Vol. 33, No. 3 (March 1977), 590-95; and Gordon A. McFeters, Susan C. Cameron and Mark W. LeChevallier, 'Influence of Diluents, Media and Membrane Filters on Detection of Injured Waterborne Coliform Bacteria', ibid., Vol.43, No. 1 January 1982), 97-103.
58. The Schnüffler cited Devanas, Rafaeli-Eshkol & Stotzky, op. cit. note 38; two papers by G.K. Bissonnette, J.J. Jezeski, G.A. McFeters and D.G. Stuart, 'Influence of Environmental Stress on Enumeration of Indicator Bacteria from Natural Waters', Applied Microbiology, Vol. 29, No. 2 (February 1975), 186-94, and 'Evaluation of Recovery Methods to Detect Coliforms in Water', Applied and Environmental Microbiology, Vol. 33, No. 3 (March 1977), 590-95; and Gordon A. McFeters, Susan C. Cameron and Mark W. LeChevallier, 'Influence of Diluents, Media and Membrane Filters on Detection of Injured Waterborne Coliform Bacteria', ibid., Vol.43, No. 1 January 1982), 97-103.
59. The Schnüffler cited Devanas, Rafaeli-Eshkol & Stotzky, op. cit. note 38; two papers by G.K. Bissonnette, J.J. Jezeski, G.A. McFeters and D.G. Stuart, 'Influence of Environmental Stress on Enumeration of Indicator Bacteria from Natural Waters', Applied Microbiology, Vol. 29, No. 2 (February 1975), 186-94, and 'Evaluation of Recovery Methods to Detect Coliforms in Water', Applied and Environmental Microbiology, Vol. 33, No. 3 (March 1977), 590-95; and Gordon A. McFeters, Susan C. Cameron and Mark W. LeChevallier, 'Influence of Diluents, Media and Membrane Filters on Detection of Injured Waterborne Coliform Bacteria', ibid., Vol.43, No. 1 January 1982), 97-103.
60. The Schnüffler cited Devanas, Rafaeli-Eshkol & Stotzky, op. cit. note 38; two papers by G.K. Bissonnette, J.J. Jezeski, G.A. McFeters and D.G. Stuart, 'Influence of Environmental Stress on Enumeration of Indicator Bacteria from Natural Waters', Applied Microbiology, Vol. 29, No. 2 (February 1975), 186-94, and 'Evaluation of Recovery Methods to Detect Coliforms in Water', Applied and Environmental Microbiology, Vol. 33, No. 3 (March 1977), 590-95; and Gordon A. McFeters, Susan C. Cameron and Mark W. LeChevallier, 'Influence of Diluents, Media and Membrane Filters on Detection of Injured Waterborne Coliform Bacteria', ibid., Vol.43, No. 1 January 1982), 97-103.
61. Both Krimsky, op. cit. note 17, and Wright, op. cit. notes 17 & 18, argue that scientific consensus about the biohazards posed by the use of E.coli K12 as a host organism in rDNA research, was the outcome of a concerted effort to allay public concern, relax the guidelines and stave off legislation. In particular, Wright, op. cit. note 18, provides convincing evidence for this in a detailed account of three meetings over the course of which it was decided that E.coli K12 could not become an epidemic pathogen.
62. Both Krimsky, op. cit. note 17, and Wright, op. cit. notes 17 & 18, argue that scientific consensus about the biohazards posed by the use of E.coli K12 as a host organism in rDNA research, was the outcome of a concerted effort to allay public concern, relax the guidelines and stave off legislation. In particular, Wright, op. cit. note 18, provides convincing evidence for this in a detailed account of three meetings over the course of which it was decided that E.coli K12 could not become an epidemic pathogen.
63. Both Krimsky, op. cit. note 17, and Wright, op. cit. notes 17 & 18, argue that scientific consensus about the biohazards posed by the use of E.coli K12 as a host organism in rDNA research, was the outcome of a concerted effort to allay public concern, relax the guidelines and stave off legislation. In particular, Wright, op. cit. note 18, provides convincing evidence for this in a detailed account of three meetings over the course of which it was decided that E.coli K12 could not become an epidemic pathogen.
64. Both Krimsky and Wright, op. cit. notes 17 & 18, cite such evidence.
65. One reference, as cited by the Schnüffler, was S.B. Levy and B. Marshall, 'Survival of E.coli Host-Vector System', Recombinant DNA Technical Bulletin (July 1979), 77. However, it became clear that this citation was incorrect when I consulted the relevant issue of this journal, since the article is not published there. The closest reference I could find is an article by Stuart B. Levy, Bonnie Marshall and Debra Rowse-Eagle, 'Survival of Escherichia coli in Host-Vector Systems in the Mammalian Intestine', Science, Vol. 209 (18 July 1980), 391-94. This reports an experiment which used the same plasmid constructs, strain of E. coli K12, and investigated the same questions as those for which the Schnüffler cited Levy & Marshall (ibid.). In responding to the Schnüffler's claims, Hoechst cited the Levy, Marshall & Rowse-Eagle (1980) paper. In relation to this claim, the Schnüffler also cited P.H. Williams, 'Plasmid Transfer in the Human Alimentary Tract', FEMS Microbiology Letters, Vol. 2 (1977), 91-95.
66. One reference, as cited by the Schnüffler, was S.B. Levy and B. Marshall, 'Survival of E.coli Host-Vector System', Recombinant DNA Technical Bulletin (July 1979), 77. However, it became clear that this citation was incorrect when I consulted the relevant issue of this journal, since the article is not published there. The closest reference I could find is an article by Stuart B. Levy, Bonnie Marshall and Debra Rowse-Eagle, 'Survival of Escherichia coli in Host-Vector Systems in the Mammalian Intestine', Science, Vol. 209 (18 July 1980), 391-94. This reports an experiment which used the same plasmid constructs, strain of E. coli K12, and investigated the same questions as those for which the Schnüffler cited Levy & Marshall (ibid.). In responding to the Schnüffler's claims, Hoechst cited the Levy, Marshall & Rowse-Eagle (1980) paper. In relation to this claim, the Schnüffler also cited P.H. Williams, 'Plasmid Transfer in the Human Alimentary Tract', FEMS Microbiology Letters, Vol. 2 (1977), 91-95.
67. One reference, as cited by the Schnüffler, was S.B. Levy and B. Marshall, 'Survival of E.coli Host-Vector System', Recombinant DNA Technical Bulletin (July 1979), 77. However, it became clear that this citation was incorrect when I consulted the relevant issue of this journal, since the article is not published there. The closest reference I could find is an article by Stuart B. Levy, Bonnie Marshall and Debra Rowse-Eagle, 'Survival of Escherichia coli in Host-Vector Systems in the Mammalian Intestine', Science, Vol. 209 (18 July 1980), 391-94. This reports an experiment which used the same plasmid constructs, strain of E. coli K12, and investigated the same questions as those for which the Schnüffler cited Levy & Marshall (ibid.). In responding to the Schnüffler's claims, Hoechst cited the Levy, Marshall & Rowse-Eagle (1980) paper. In relation to this claim, the Schnüffler also cited P.H. Williams, 'Plasmid Transfer in the Human Alimentary Tract', FEMS Microbiology Letters, Vol. 2 (1977), 91-95.
68. Here Hoechst cited S.B. Levy and B. Marshall, 'Risk Assessment Studies of E.coli Host-Vector System', Recombinant DNA Technical Bulletin, Vol. 4, No. 3 (September 1981), 91-98.
69. The papers cited by the Schnüffler to support this aspect of their argument were: J.D. Anderson, 'The Effect of R-factor Carriage on the Survival of Escherichia coli in the Human Intestine', Journal of Medical Microbiology, Vol. 7, No. 1 (February 1974), 85-90; Williams, op. cit. note 43; G. Stotsky and V.N. Krasovsky, 'Ecological Factors that Affect the Survival, Establishment, Growth and Genetic Recombination of Microbes in Natural Habitats', in S.B. Levy et al. (eds), Proceedings of the International Plasmid Conference on Molecular Biology, Pathogenicity and Ecology of Bacterial Plasmids (New York: Plenum Press, 1981), 31-42; Rolf Freter, Rolf R. Freter and Howard Brickner, 'Experimental and Mathematical Models of E.coli Plasmid Transfer In Vitro and In Vivo', Infection and Immunity, Vol. 39. No. 1 (January 1983), 60-84; and M.M. Levine et al., 'Recombinant DNA Risk Assessment Studies in Man: Efficacy of Poorly Mobilizable Plasmids in Biological Containment', Recombinant DNA Technical Bulletin, Vol. 6. No. 3 (September 1983), 89-97.
70. The papers cited by the Schnüffler to support this aspect of their argument were: J.D. Anderson, 'The Effect of R-factor Carriage on the Survival of Escherichia coli in the Human Intestine', Journal of Medical Microbiology, Vol. 7, No. 1 (February 1974), 85-90; Williams, op. cit. note 43; G. Stotsky and V.N. Krasovsky, 'Ecological Factors that Affect the Survival, Establishment, Growth and Genetic Recombination of Microbes in Natural Habitats', in S.B. Levy et al. (eds), Proceedings of the International Plasmid Conference on Molecular Biology, Pathogenicity and Ecology of Bacterial Plasmids (New York: Plenum Press, 1981), 31-42; Rolf Freter, Rolf R. Freter and Howard Brickner, 'Experimental and Mathematical Models of E.coli Plasmid Transfer In Vitro and In Vivo', Infection and Immunity, Vol. 39. No. 1 (January 1983), 60-84; and M.M. Levine et al., 'Recombinant DNA Risk Assessment Studies in Man: Efficacy of Poorly Mobilizable Plasmids in Biological Containment', Recombinant DNA Technical Bulletin, Vol. 6. No. 3 (September 1983), 89-97.
71. The papers cited by the Schnüffler to support this aspect of their argument were: J.D. Anderson, 'The Effect of R-factor Carriage on the Survival of Escherichia coli in the Human Intestine', Journal of Medical Microbiology, Vol. 7, No. 1 (February 1974), 85-90; Williams, op. cit. note 43; G. Stotsky and V.N. Krasovsky, 'Ecological Factors that Affect the Survival, Establishment, Growth and Genetic Recombination of Microbes in Natural Habitats', in S.B. Levy et al. (eds), Proceedings of the International Plasmid Conference on Molecular Biology, Pathogenicity and Ecology of Bacterial Plasmids (New York: Plenum Press, 1981), 31-42; Rolf Freter, Rolf R. Freter and Howard Brickner, 'Experimental and Mathematical Models of E.coli Plasmid Transfer In Vitro and In Vivo', Infection and Immunity, Vol. 39. No. 1 (January 1983), 60-84; and M.M. Levine et al., 'Recombinant DNA Risk Assessment Studies in Man: Efficacy of Poorly Mobilizable Plasmids in Biological Containment', Recombinant DNA Technical Bulletin, Vol. 6. No. 3 (September 1983), 89-97.
72. The papers cited by the Schnüffler to support this aspect of their argument were: J.D. Anderson, 'The Effect of R-factor Carriage on the Survival of Escherichia coli in the Human Intestine', Journal of Medical Microbiology, Vol. 7, No. 1 (February 1974), 85-90; Williams, op. cit. note 43; G. Stotsky and V.N. Krasovsky, 'Ecological Factors that Affect the Survival, Establishment, Growth and Genetic Recombination of Microbes in Natural Habitats', in S.B. Levy et al. (eds), Proceedings of the International Plasmid Conference on Molecular Biology, Pathogenicity and Ecology of Bacterial Plasmids (New York: Plenum Press, 1981), 31-42; Rolf Freter, Rolf R. Freter and Howard Brickner, 'Experimental and Mathematical Models of E.coli Plasmid Transfer In Vitro and In Vivo', Infection and Immunity, Vol. 39. No. 1 (January 1983), 60-84; and M.M. Levine et al., 'Recombinant DNA Risk Assessment Studies in Man: Efficacy of Poorly Mobilizable Plasmids in Biological Containment', Recombinant DNA Technical Bulletin, Vol. 6. No. 3 (September 1983), 89-97.
73. The papers cited by the Schnüffler to support this aspect of their argument were: J.D. Anderson, 'The Effect of R-factor Carriage on the Survival of Escherichia coli in the Human Intestine', Journal of Medical Microbiology, Vol. 7, No. 1 (February 1974), 85-90; Williams, op. cit. note 43; G. Stotsky and V.N. Krasovsky, 'Ecological Factors that Affect the Survival, Establishment, Growth and Genetic Recombination of Microbes in Natural Habitats', in S.B. Levy et al. (eds), Proceedings of the International Plasmid Conference on Molecular Biology, Pathogenicity and Ecology of Bacterial Plasmids (New York: Plenum Press, 1981), 31-42; Rolf Freter, Rolf R. Freter and Howard Brickner, 'Experimental and Mathematical Models of E.coli Plasmid Transfer In Vitro and In Vivo', Infection and Immunity, Vol. 39. No. 1 (January 1983), 60-84; and M.M. Levine et al., 'Recombinant DNA Risk Assessment Studies in Man: Efficacy of Poorly Mobilizable Plasmids in Biological Containment', Recombinant DNA Technical Bulletin, Vol. 6. No. 3 (September 1983), 89-97.
74. Hoechst cited these papers as V. Petrocheilou and M.H. Richmond, 'Absence of Plasmid or Escherichia coli K-12 Infection among Laboratory Personnel Engaged in r-Plasmid Research', Gene, Vol. 2 (1977), 323-27; Levy, Marshall & Rowse-Eagle (1980), op. cit. note 43; Bonnie Marshall, Susan Schluederberg, Chikanori Tachibana and Stuart B. Levy, 'Survival and Transfer in the Human Gut of Poorly Mobilizable (pBR322) and of Transferable Plasmids from the Same Carrier E.coli', Gene,Vol. 14 (1981), 145-54; Levy & Marshall, op. cit. note 44; Levine et al., op. cit. note 45.
75. Hoechst cited these papers as V. Petrocheilou and M.H. Richmond, 'Absence of Plasmid or Escherichia coli K-12 Infection among Laboratory Personnel Engaged in r-Plasmid Research', Gene, Vol. 2 (1977), 323-27; Levy, Marshall & Rowse-Eagle (1980), op. cit. note 43; Bonnie Marshall, Susan Schluederberg, Chikanori Tachibana and Stuart B. Levy, 'Survival and Transfer in the Human Gut of Poorly Mobilizable (pBR322) and of Transferable Plasmids from the Same Carrier E.coli', Gene,Vol. 14 (1981), 145-54; Levy & Marshall, op. cit. note 44; Levine et al., op. cit. note 45.
76. Hoechst cited these papers as V. Petrocheilou and M.H. Richmond, 'Absence of Plasmid or Escherichia coli K-12 Infection among Laboratory Personnel Engaged in r-Plasmid Research', Gene, Vol. 2 (1977), 323-27; Levy, Marshall & Rowse-Eagle (1980), op. cit. note 43; Bonnie Marshall, Susan Schluederberg, Chikanori Tachibana and Stuart B. Levy, 'Survival and Transfer in the Human Gut of Poorly Mobilizable (pBR322) and of Transferable Plasmids from the Same Carrier E.coli', Gene,Vol. 14 (1981), 145-54; Levy & Marshall, op. cit. note 44; Levine et al., op. cit. note 45.
77. Hoechst cited these papers as V. Petrocheilou and M.H. Richmond, 'Absence of Plasmid or Escherichia coli K-12 Infection among Laboratory Personnel Engaged in r-Plasmid Research', Gene, Vol. 2 (1977), 323-27; Levy, Marshall & Rowse-Eagle (1980), op. cit. note 43; Bonnie Marshall, Susan Schluederberg, Chikanori Tachibana and Stuart B. Levy, 'Survival and Transfer in the Human Gut of Poorly Mobilizable (pBR322) and of Transferable Plasmids from the Same Carrier E.coli', Gene,Vol. 14 (1981), 145-54; Levy & Marshall, op. cit. note 44; Levine et al., op. cit. note 45.
78. Hoechst cited these papers as V. Petrocheilou and M.H. Richmond, 'Absence of Plasmid or Escherichia coli K-12 Infection among Laboratory Personnel Engaged in r-Plasmid Research', Gene, Vol. 2 (1977), 323-27; Levy, Marshall & Rowse-Eagle (1980), op. cit. note 43; Bonnie Marshall, Susan Schluederberg, Chikanori Tachibana and Stuart B. Levy, 'Survival and Transfer in the Human Gut of Poorly Mobilizable (pBR322) and of Transferable Plasmids from the Same Carrier E.coli', Gene,Vol. 14 (1981), 145-54; Levy & Marshall, op. cit. note 44; Levine et al., op. cit. note 45.
79. Verran, op. cit. note 3, 117-19.
80. Mol (1999), 'Ontological Politics', op. cit. note 1.