Precision medicine (PM) is emerging as a scientific bandwagon within the contemporary biomedical sciences in the United States. PM brings together concepts and tools from genomics and bioinformatics to develop better diagnostics and therapies based on individualized information. Developing countries like China and Brazil have also begun pursuing PM projects, motivated by a desire to claim genomic sovereignty over its population. In spite of commonalities, institutional arrangements produced by the history of genomics research in China and Brazil are ushering PM along different trajectories. In the Chinese case, we identify a strong state-backed push for PM combined with a dynamic network of international academic and private actors along the lines of networked technonationalism that has made large-scale, speculative PM projects possible. The Brazilian case is characterized by an institutional void at the federal level in which PM is driven by domestic academic actors in universities in the regional level, resulting in smaller scale, needs-driven PM projects. Through these cases, this paper shows how a scientific bandwagon adapts to national histories and institutions. Through this peripheral translation of the scientific bandwagon, the global infrastructure of biomedical knowledge has the potential to be transformed.
AAAS (American Association for the Advancement of Science). 2001. “A History of the Human Genome Project.” Science291 (5507): 1195. doi: 10.1126/science.291.5507.1195.
2.
AAAS (American Association for the Advancement of Science). 2018. “Scientists Use Prenatal Testing Samples to Complete the Largest Genetic Study yet in China.” EurekAlert! October 4, 2018. Accessed March 20, 2020. https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2018-10/cp-sup092718.php.
3.
BenjaminRuha. 2009. “A Lab of Their Own: Genomic Sovereignty as Postcolonial Science Policy.” Policy and Society28 (4): 341–55. doi: 10.1016/j.polsoc.2009.09.007.
BicudoEdison. 2018. “‘Big Data’ or ‘Big Knowledge’? Brazilian Genomics and the Process of Academic Marketization.” BioSocieties13 (1): 1–20. doi: 10.1057/s41292-017-0037-4.
6.
BloomDavid E.BlackStevenSalisburyDavidRappuoliRino. 2018. “Antimicrobial Resistance and the Role of Vaccines.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences115 (51): 12868–71. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1717157115.
CAS (Chinese Academy of Sciences). 2019. “China Genomic Data Sharing Initiative.” 2019. Accessed March 20, 2020. https://bigd.big.ac.cn/gdsd.
13.
CaulfieldTimothyEvansJimMcGuireAmyMcCabeChristopherBubelaTaniaCook-DeeganRobertFishmanJennifer. 2013. “Reflections on the Cost of ‘Low-cost’ Whole Genome Sequencing: Framing the Health Policy Debate.” PLOS Biology11 (11): e1001699. doi: 10.1371/journal.pbio.1001699.
ChorevNitsan. 2012. “Changing Global Norms through Reactive Diffusion: The Case of Intellectual Property Protection of AIDS Drugs.” American Sociological Review77 (5): 831–53. doi: 10.1177/0003122412457156.
16.
CNGB (China National GeneBank). 2019. “Chinese Millionome Database.” China National GeneBank. Accessed March 20, 2020. https://db.cngb.org/cmdb/.
17.
CollinsFrancis S.MorganMichaelPatrinosAristides. 2003. “The Human Genome Project: Lessons from Large-scale Biology.” Science300 (5617): 286–90. doi: 10.1126/science.1084564.
18.
CooperMelindaWaldbyCatherine. 2014. Clinical Labor: Tissue Donors and Research Subjects in the Global Bioeconomy. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.
DiMaggioPaul J.PowellWalter W.. 1983. “The Iron Cage Revisited: Institutional Isomorphism and Collective Rationality in Organizational Fields.” American Sociological Review48 (2): 147–60. doi: 10.2307/2095101.
21.
FortunMichael. 2001. “Mediated Speculations in the Genomics Futures Markets.” New Genetics and Society20 (2): 139–56. doi: 10.1080/14636770124557.
22.
FourcadeMarion. 2013. “The Material and Symbolic Construction of the BRICs: Reflections Inspired by the RIPE Special Issue.” Review of International Political Economy20 (2): 256–67. doi: 10.1080/09692290.2013.779408.
23.
FrickelScottMooreKelly, eds. 2015. The New Political Sociology of Science: Institutions, Networks, and Power, 1st ed. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press.
24.
FujimuraJoan H.1987. “Constructing ‘Do-able’ Problems in Cancer Research: Articulating Alignment.” Social Studies of Science17 (2): 257–93. doi: 10.1177/030631287017002003.
25.
FujimuraJoan H.1988. “The Molecular Biological Bandwagon in Cancer Research: Where Social Worlds Meet.” Social Problems35 (3): 23.
26.
FujimuraJoan H.1992. “Crafting Science: Standardized Packages, Boundary Objects, and ‘Translation.’” In Science as Practice and Culture, edited by PickeringAndrew, 168–211. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
27.
FujimuraJoan H.1996. Crafting Science: A Sociohistory of the Quest for the Genetics of Cancer. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
28.
FujimuraJoan H.RajagopalanRamya. 2011. “Different Differences: The Use of ‘Genetic Ancestry’ versus Race in Biomedical Human Genetic Research.” Social Studies of Science41 (1): 5–30.
29.
GlaserBarney G.StraussAnselm L.. 1967. The Discovery of Grounded Theory: Strategies for Qualitative Research. Chicago: Aldine.
30.
HajerMaarten A.2003. Deliberative Policy Analysis: Understanding Governance in the Network Society. Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press.
31.
HarmerAndrewBuseKent. 2014. “The BRICS—A Paradigm Shift in Global Health?” Contemporary Politics20 (2): 127–45. doi: 10.1080/13569775.2014.907988.
32.
HarveyMarkMcMeekinAndy. 2005. “Brazilian Genomics and Bioinformatics: Instituting New Innovation Pathways in a Global Context.” Economy and Society34 (4): 634–58. doi: 10.1080/03085140500277260.
33.
HedgecoeAdam. 2004. The Politics of Personalised Medicine: Pharmacogenetics in the Clinic. New York: Cambridge University Press.
34.
HilgartnerStephen. 1995. “Biomolecular Databases: New Communication Regimes for Biology?” Science Communication17 (2): 240–63. doi: 10.1177/1075547095017002009.
35.
HilgartnerStephen. 2017. Reordering Life: Knowledge and Control in the Genomics Revolution. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.
36.
HineChristine. 2006. “Databases as Scientific Instruments and Their Role in the Ordering of Scientific Work.” Social Studies of Science36 (2): 269–98. doi: 10.1177/0306312706054047.
Ibata-ArensKathryn C.2019. Beyond Technonationalism: Biomedical Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Asia. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
39.
KimuraEdna T.BaíaGilson S.. 2002. “Rede ONSA e o Projeto Genoma Humano Do Câncer: Contribuição Ao Genoma Humano.” Arquivos Brasileiros de Endocrinologia & amp; Metabologia46 (4): 325–29. doi: 10.1590/S0004-27302002000400003.
LiuSiyangHuangShujiaChenFangZhaoLijianYuanYuyingFrancisStephen StarkoFangLin. 2018. “Genomic Analyses from Non-invasive Prenatal Testing Reveal Genetic Associations, Patterns of Viral Infections, and Chinese Population History.” Cell175 (2): 347–59.e14. doi: 10.1016/j.cell.2018.08.016.
42.
LoweRachelBarcellosChristovamBrasilPatríciaCruzOswaldo G.HonórioNildimar AlvesKuperHannahCarvalhoMarilia Sá. 2018. “The Zika Virus Epidemic in Brazil: From Discovery to Future Implications.” International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health15 (1): 96. doi: 10.3390/ijerph15010096.
43.
LöwyIlanaGaudillièreJean Paul. 2008. “Localizing the Global: Testing for Hereditary Risks of Breast Cancer.” Science, Technology, & Human Values33 (3): 299–325. doi: 10.1177/0162243907306855.
44.
MeyerJohn W.BoliJohnThomasGeorge M.RamirezFrancisco O.. 1997. “World Society and the Nation-state.” American Journal of Sociology103 (1): 144–81. doi: 10.1086/231174.
45.
MittraJames. 2015. The New Health Bioeconomy: R&D Policy and Innovation for the Twenty-first Century. Berlin, Germany: Springer.
46.
National Research Council. 2011. “Toward Precision Medicine: Building a Knowledge Network for Biomedical Research and a New Taxonomy of Disease.” The National Academies Collection: Reports Funded by National Institutes of Health. Washington, DC: National Academies Press (US). Accessed March 20, 2020. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK91503/.
47.
NegraesCarmen Lucia B.EglerPaulo César G.. 2002. “The Brazilian Genome Project: A Successful Example of a Research Network.” Science, Technology and Society7 (2): 313–38. doi: 10.1177/097172180200700205.
48.
OlsonMaynard V.2017. “A Behind-the-scenes Story of Precision Medicine*.” Genomics, Proteomics & Bioinformatics15 (1): 3–10. doi: 10.1016/j.gpb.2017.01.002.
Pesquisa FAPESP. 2008. “Entrevista com José Fernando Perez (Revolução Genômica—Ideias, pesquisa e Política). Ex-diretor científico da FAPESP fala sobre o pioneirismo dos primeiros projetos Genoma e as consequências para a biotecnologia brasileira (abril, 2008).” Accessed March 20, 2020. http://revistapesquisa.fapesp.br/2008/05/01/jose-fernando-perez/.
51.
PiersonPaul. 2004. Politics in Time: History, Institutions, and Social Analysis. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
RüppelJonas. 2019. “‘Now Is a Time for Optimism’: The Politics of Personalized Medicine in Mental Health Research.” Science, Technology, & Human Values. doi: 10.1177/0162243919845049.
58.
SalterBrianZhouYinhuaDattaSaheliSalterCharlotte. 2016. “Bioinformatics and the Politics of Innovation in the Life Sciences: Science and the State in the United Kingdom, China, and India.” Science, Technology, & Human Values41 (5): 793–826. doi: 10.1177/0162243916631022.
59.
SaxenianAnnaLee. 2007. The New Argonauts: Regional Advantage in a Global Economy. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
60.
SeawrightJ.GerringJ.. 2008. “Case Selection Techniques in Case Study Research: A Menu of Qualitative and Quantitative Options.” Political Research Quarterly61 (2): 294–308. doi: 10.1177/1065912907313077.
61.
SilvaRenan Gonçalves Leonel daCostaMaria Conceição da. 2012. “INSTRUMENTOS DE POLÍTICA DE CIÊNCIA E TECNOLOGIA EM GENÔMICA NO ESTADO DE SÃO PAULO.” Revista de Políticas Públicas16 (2): 493–501.
62.
SilvaRenan Gonçalves Leonel daCostaMaria Conceição da. 2019. “A Pesquisa Sobre o Cancro No Fim Do Século XX: Implicações Para a Organização Da Agenda de Pesquisa No Brasil.” Análise Social232: 594–621.
63.
SimpsonA. J.PerezJ. F.. 1998. “ONSA, the São Paulo Virtual Genomics Institute. Organization for Nucleotide Sequencing and Analysis.” Nature Biotechnology16 (9): 795–96. doi: 10.1038/nbt0998-795.
64.
SimpsonA. J.ReinachF. C.ArrudaP.AbreuF. A.AcencioM.AlvarengaR.AlvesL. M.. 2000. “The Genome Sequence of the Plant Pathogen Xylella Fastidiosa: The Xylella Fastidiosa Consortium of the Organization for Nucleotide Sequencing and Analysis.” Nature406 (6792): 151–59. doi:https://doi.org/10.1038/35018003.
65.
SouzaSandro J. deCamargoAnamaria A.BrionesMarcelo R. S.CostaFernando F.NagaiMaria AparecidaVerjovski-AlmeidaSergioZagoMarco A.. 2000. “Identification of Human Chromosome 22 Transcribed Sequences with ORF Expressed Sequence Tags.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences97 (23): 12690–93. doi: 10.1073/pnas.97.23.12690.
66.
SunShirley Hsiao-Li. 2017. “Socio-economics of Personalized Medicine in Asia.” Routledge Studies in the Sociology of Health and Illness. New York: Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group.
67.
The International HapMap Consortium. 2003. “The International HapMap Project.” Nature426 (December): 789–96. doi:https://doi.org/10.1038/nature02168.
68.
ThelenKathleen. 2003. “How Institutions Evole: Insights from Comparative Historical Analysis.” In Comparative Historical Analysis in the Social Sciences, edited by MahoneyJamesRueschemeyerDietrich, 208–40. New York: Cambridge University Press.
69.
TimmermansStefanTavoryIddo. 2012. “Theory Construction in Qualitative Research: From Grounded Theory to Abductive Analysis.” Sociological Theory30 (3): 167–86. doi: 10.1177/0735275112457914.
70.
VaughanDiane. 1999. “The Role of the Organization in the Production of Techno-scientific Knowledge.” Social Studies of Science29 (6): 913–43. doi: 10.1177/030631299029006005.
71.
WadePeterBeltránCarlos LópezRestrepoEduardoSantosRicardo Ventura, eds. 2014. Mestizo Genomics: Race Mixture, Nation, and Science in Latin America. Durham, NC: Duke University Press Books.
72.
WangXiaolingXiaZhiChenChaoYangHuanming. 2018. “The International Human Genome Project (HGP) and China’s Contribution.” Protein & Cell9 (4): 317–21. doi: 10.1007/s13238-017-0474-7.
