Browsing by Author "Halverson, Colin Michael Egenberger"

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    Evidence and Expertise in Genetic Nomenclatures
    (Wiley, 2019-12) Halverson, Colin Michael Egenberger; Medicine, School of Medicine
    Clinicians and laboratory scientists use a number of different systems for naming genetic mutations in their daily activities. Based on participant observation at an American academic medical center and interviews with a variety of actors at American hospitals, this paper analyzes the use of these systems. I argue that their distribution corresponds to differences in professional regimes of responsibility. An examination of these often quite complex linguistic items reveals a correlation between the type of components (evidential versus epistemic modifiers) that constitute the names and the presupposed professional role of their intended audiences.
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    Standards and legacies: Pragmatic constraints on a uniform gene nomenclature
    (Sage, 2019-06) Halverson, Colin Michael Egenberger; Medicine, School of Medicine
    Over the past half-century, there have been concerted efforts to standardize how clinicians and medical researchers refer to genetic material. However, practical and historical impediments thwart this goal. In the current paper I argue that the ontological status of a genetic mutation cannot be cleanly separated from its pragmatic role in therapy. Attempts at standardization fail due to the non-standardized ends to which genetic information is employed, along with historical inertia and unregulated local innovation. These factors prevent rationalistic attempts to ‘modernize’ what is otherwise trumpeted as the most modern of the medical sciences.