Unscientific knowledge and the "egg aging" panic

2019 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 17K02069
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Gender
• Research Institution: Tohoku University
• Principal Investigator: Tanaka Sigeto 東北大学, 文学研究科, 准教授 (60294013)
• Project Period (FY): 2017-04-01 – 2020-03-31
• Keywords: 科学技術・医療・生命 / 生殖医学 / 妊孕力 / 卵子 / 疑似科学 / 知識 / マスメディア / 科学コミュニケーション

Outline of Final Research Achievements

Japan has experienced floods of unscientific knowledge about human reproduction in recent times. Most of this information is created by professionals in the fields of obstetrics, gynecology, and reproductive medicine and spread widely through mass media campaigns. Such knowledge has also been used by the government as scientific evidence to justify the encouragement of pregnancy and childbirth for young women.
This project investigated the process of the emergence and spread of such discourse through a literature survey. The results show that the discourse has exerted its power since 2011, but related knowledge and visual representations had already been used by professionals before that.
The project also revealed the historical background in which such knowledge was associated with governmental policies against low fertility levels. These findings contribute to establishing a public decision-making system with scrutiny of scientific knowledge by nonprofessionals.

Free Research Field

社会学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

これまでよくわかっていなかった2010年代の「卵子の老化」キャンペーンの実態とその背景、「少子化」政策との関連について、実証的に明らかにした。また、非科学的知識が政策と結びつく危険性を排除する方法を提唱した点で、社会的意義を有している。