Key result
A sociological analysis of the 1991 discovery of the Myotonic Dystrophy gene explored the predictability of the discovery, competition and collaboration, and career dynamics of the research group.
This sociological analysis highlights the complex dynamics of scientific discovery, including the roles of skill, serendipity, competition, and collaboration in the cloning of the Myotonic Dystrophy gene.
Does not alter myotonic dystrophy management; leaves open how competition and serendipity shape current gene discovery.
Myotonic Dystrophy is the most common form of adult muscular dystrophy and is characterized by muscle wasting and weakness. In 1991, the disease gene was cloned and sequenced by scientists in Cardiff, London, and else-where overseas. Whereas most studies of scientific breakthrough stop at the point of the "discovery," this article describes research that explored scientists' accounts of the career of that breakthrough, tracing the research within the specialty of molecular biology and the translation of the research into the service setting. Three main analytic themes are explored: the predictability of the discovery and its mediation by issues of skill and serendipity; the dialectical nature of competition and collaboration; and the career dynamics of the research group and the scientists who composed that group.
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Batchelor et al. (1996) studied Myotonic Dystrophy. A sociological analysis of the 1991 discovery of the Myotonic Dystrophy gene explored the predictability of the discovery, competition and collaboration, and career dynamics of the research group.
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