A History of Genomics across Species, Communities and Projects (Medicine and Biomedical Sciences in Modern History)

In four decades, genomics has transformed the biological sciences and has penetrated well beyond them. The marriage of DNA sequencing techniques and computational infrastructures built to handle, store and analyse ever-increasing quantities of data has contributed to significant developments in:• Our understanding of human history through our relationship to Neanderthals, Denisovans and other hominids (Pääbo, 2014);• Our appreciation of the extent and diversity of life previously undetected by biological methods (Riesenfeld et al., 2004; Venter et al., 2004);• Forensic science, food tracing and nature conservation (Arenas et al., 2017);• Our picture of the Tree of Life and the evolutionary relationships within it (O’Malley et al., 2010);• The reclassification of diseases resulting in improved diagnosis, prognosis and treatment options (Keating et al., 2016);• Enhancements in the efficacy of selective breeding in agriculture (Lowe & Bruce, 2019);• The reshaping of the fundamental models and metaphors with which we think about how living things develop and function (Keller, 2000). This open access book offers a comprehensive overview of the history of genomics across three different species and four decades, from the 1980s to the recent past. It takes an inclusive approach in order to capture not only the international initiatives to map and sequence the genomes of various organisms, but also the work of smaller-scale institutions engaged in the mapping and sequencing of yeast, human and pig DNA. In doing so, the authors expand the historiographical lens of genomics from a focus on large-scale projects to other forms of organisation. They show how practices such as genome mapping, sequence assembly and annotation are as essential as DNA sequencing in the history of genomics, and argue that existing depictions of genomics are too closely associated with the Human Genome Project. Exploring the use of genomic tools by biochemists, cell biologists, and medical and agriculturally-oriented geneticists, this book portrays the history of genomics as inseparably entangled with the day-to-day practices and objectives of these communities. The authors also uncover often forgotten actors such as the European Commission, a crucial funder and forger of collaborative networks undertaking genomic projects. In examining historical trajectories across species, communities and projects, the book provides new insights on genomics, its dramatic expansion during the late twentieth-century and its developments in the twenty-first century. Offering the first extensive critical examination of the nature and historicity of reference genomes, this book demonstrates how their affordances and limitations are shaped by the involvement or absence of particular communities in their production. Miguel Garca-Sancho is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Edinburgh in the UK. He led the project TRANSGENE: Medical Translation in the History of Modern Genomics, with funding from the European Research Council. James Lowe is a Senior Research Fellow at the University of Edinburgh in the UK. He is a historian and philosopher of biology who worked on the European Research Council-funded project TRANSGENE: Medical Translation in the History of Modern Genomics