Recombinant DNA technology and the new dynamics of science: Constructing molecular approaches to cancer in Brazil

This work shows the organization of Oncogenomics and the role of recombinant DNA technology in the 1980s in Brazil This work is result of research at the International Center for Teaching and Research (CIPE - Centro Internacional de Pesquisa e ensino) at Hospital AC Camargo, the main brazilian lab in oncology (a pioneer in developing basic research projects in molecular biology and therapy of cancer, that have concentrated 63% of the national scientific production in oncology). The text is divided in three parts: (a) the state of art of molecular biology in the 1980s and technologies (recombinant DNA) in oncogenomics (molecular nature/origins of cancer), (b) the role of genomics in medicine, the actors and processes responsible for the construction of molecular approaches to cancer studies in Brazil, (c) conclusions about changes in post-genomic science and the characteristics of cancer research field in Brazil. The study shows that the development of molecular approaches to cancer in Brazil was dynamic. There were policies designed to enable the evolution of the scientific field in the area, supported by bodies such as the São Paulo Research Foundation (FAPESP) and National Counsel of Technological and Scientific Development (CNPq). The goal is to present how the stabilization of a scientific field is a historical and socially situated process.