Genetics and radiation in Japan in the 1950s

2017 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 15K01117
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Sociology/History of science and technology
• Research Institution: The Graduate University for Advanced Studies
• Principal Investigator: Iida Kaori 総合研究大学院大学, 先導科学研究科, 准教授 (10589667)
• Project Period (FY): 2015-04-01 – 2018-03-31
• Keywords: 遺伝学史 / 放射線

Outline of Final Research Achievements

In this project, I analyzed a relation between genetics and radiation in the 1950s in Japan. In particular, I aimed to examine how Japanese geneticists communicated the two opposing aspects of radiation, risks and benefits, to the public and how that was related to the international socio-political context and scientific findings of the time. Through this project, I found that Japanese geneticists remained silent about genetic effects of radiation until the end of 1956. This Japanese reaction contrasted with that of American geneticists as well as Japanese scientists of the other fields, as they voiced criticisms sharply after the Bikini Incident. I suggest that the silence can be explained by a combination of the Cold War context, the Atoms-for-Peace campaign, and the genetics project of Atomic Bomb Casualty Commission, and I am currently analyzing the dynamics shaping the geneticists’ communication about radiation.

Free Research Field

科学史