From Molecular Genetics to Genomics: The Mapping Cultures of Twentieth-Century Genetics

With the rise of genomics, the life sciences have entered a new era. Maps of genomes have become the icons for a comprehensive knowledge of the organism on a previously unattained level of complexity. This book provides an in-depth history of molecular genetics and genomics. The first section of the book shows how the cartography of classical genetics was linked to the molecular analysis of gene structure through the introduction of new model organisms, such as bacteria, and through the invention of new experimental tools, such as gene transfer. The second section addresses the development of human genome sequencing in all its technical, epistemic, social, and economic complexity. With its detailed analyses of the scientific practices and its illustration of the diversity of mapping, this book is a significant contribution to the history of genetics. A companion volume from the same editors - Classical Genetic Research and Its Legacy: The mapping cultures of twentieth century genetics - covers the history of mapping procedures as they were developed in classical genetics.