"Japanese" science in the history of genetics in postwar Japan

2014 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 24700922
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• 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, 講師 (10589667)
• Project Period (FY): 2012-04-01 – 2015-03-31
• Keywords: 遺伝学史 / 育種 / 戦後日本

Outline of Final Research Achievements

In this project, I analyzed the history of genetics and breeding studies in postwar Japan, in particular aiming to understand ideas of Japan’s “own” science (as geneticists of the time had understood it). I revealed a case of conflict between Japanese geneticists and officials of the International Union of Biological Sciences, on the organization of a program for International Genetics Symposia that Japanese geneticists hosted in 1956. Many geneticists in Japan at the time focused on a particular organism to deepen the understanding of that organism; on the other hand, many geneticists abroad like IUBS officials focused on a particular scientific problem. This difference in the research style is caused by a relation between genetic research and breeding studies. For the social and cultural meaning of such a difference, a further study is required.

Free Research Field

科学技術史