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Racine Valerie | Other
2016-06-01 - 2016-12-31 | Research area: Philosophy of Biology
Beyond Reductionism and Emergence: A Study of the Epistemic Practices in Gene Expression Research

A central task for historians and philosophers of science is to characterize and analyze the epistemic practices in a given science. The epistemic practices of a science include setting its goals or aims, and using certain methods to achieve these goals. My dissertation project addressed the epistemic practices in gene expression research spanning the mid-twentieth century to the twenty-first century. I assess some of the standard historical narratives of the molecular life sciences to clarify certain philosophical problems with respect to reduction, emergence, and representation, and offer new ways with which to think about the development of scientific research and the nature of scientific change.