“Taking Samples”: Historicizing the

Biotech Narrative and the Formation of

Regulatory Practice (South Korea, and

Singapore, early 1960s-present)John DiMoia, Department

of History, NUS / Max Planck Institute for the History of Science,

2014-20161

Q: What makes a “Biotech” story? (vs US version / Genentech) •*The economic success

narrative (implicit)

•* The recent story (Hwang, post—1997) (or Biopolis, for Singapore)

•*JTC (SG), and state-driven (SK)

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Looking at these two cases:

• Hoping to suggest much more humble, developmental origins / circumstances

• Hoping to suggest an earlier context for regulatory practice (even if not always a direct link for the biology)

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I. The Park Chung Hee state and “health” (1961-

1979)

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Anti-parasite campaigns—All secondary, middle, and

high schools: twice annually from 1969

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New infrastructure: assistance from OTCA /

Japan

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Crafting new forms of expertise, medical

technicians

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To reinforce this point—numerous images, posters, campaigns

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Part II. And for Singapore?

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The official / sanctioned story

• JTC (Jurong Town Corporation), Philip Yeo

• Strategic Investment since about 2000

• “liberal laws,” good governance, a space apart from Bush-era stem cell line limitations

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An alternative story?

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Framing: The blastocysts story? / Human Reproduction—early to mid-1990s

• ART program at National University Hospital

• Establish protocols for handling, storing, working with tissues (embryos)

• Famous “stem-cell like” objects (now recognized as a precursor, even if not the isolation of HESC lines)

Fertilization and early embryology: Isolation and culture of inner cell mass cells from human blastocystsAriff Bongso1, Chui-Yee Fong, Soon-Chye Ng and Shan Ratnam

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In summary

• Taking samples (practice, national scale)• Changing behaviors (consent, participation, storage and handling of tissues)

• Mobilization (mass campaigns)

• A context for later efforts, when the “real” biotech comes along in late 20th century, early 21st

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Thanks~

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