Between Geno-hype and the Post-Genomic: The Management of Science and Ethics

Abstract

An organisation funded in the name of mothers, sisters and daughters and dedicated to fighting breast cancer by focusing on the microbiology of the breast, appears to powerfully align the witnessing of loss and the value of female nurturance with a hunt for, what is seen by many who support the charity, in terms of a ‘cure’ for breast cancer. This chapter moves beyond an exclusive focus on the particular character of this form of activism, to examine how sustaining and reproducing this in relation to a programme of molecular focussed research has been managed in the public discourse and practice of the charity. It examines how during a particular de-limited time frame, a hopeful, yet high risk field of science inquiry was communicated, disseminated and promoted to those who supported the charity and a wider public.