Genomic Styles of Thought in Autism Research

• In Event: 387 - Regular Session. Sociology of Science 2

Abstract

This paper investigates a new genomic style of thought that has emerged over the last 10 years within the autism research community. Based on interviews with scientists conducting autism genetics research (N=20) and an analysis of scientific articles, this paper maps out the shifts in genomic styles of thought from autism as caused by a few specific heritable genes to the current focus that investigates rare genomic mutations that are spontaneously acquired. Drawing on Ludwick Fleck’s notion of thought styles and communities, I argue that the confluence of specific social, cultural, and political processes contributed to a new genomic style of thought within autism genetics research. These processes involved the enhanced funding and political support for research on autism genetics, the pressure for scientists to produce genetic knowledge of autism in the wake of failing to find specific genes, and the emergence of genomic technologies that magnified the human genome. Further, I contend that this new way of seeing, practicing and thinking of autism through a magnified genomic gaze is based on the constrained thought style that genetics is the underlying cause of autism. To this end, I provide a sociological analysis of how scientists are imagining the future of autism at the genomic level using advanced bioinformatics systems software that map gene regulatory networks. This paper exemplifies how current scientific interpretations of autism are very much driven by the values and priorities of scientists and public and private funding agencies to focus on the genetic etiology of autism.

Author

• Jennifer S. Singh, Georgia Institute of Technology