Paper short abstract:

I put Hagner and Rheinberger's notion of "spaces of knowledge" in conversation with a case study of a thalassaemia prevention system in Cyprus. I then develop a ethical paradigm of how relations between science and public should be fostered.

Paper long abstract:

Hagner and Rheinberger's notion of "spaces of knowledge" as "a dynamic network of mobile elements" (2003: 220) provides a suitable starting point for exploring the spatio-temporal facets of genetic science. On the one hand, the given concept denotes the cartography of publics, scientific institutions and national governments by which genetic knowledge is assembled and mobilised. On the other hand, it shows how the given space processually unfolds and transforms though time, according to techno-scientific and socio-cultural change. This paper puts the concept of space of knowledge in conversation with a case study of a thalassaemia prevention system in Cyprus. Thalassaemia is one of the most common recessive blood disorders globally, and is especially prevalent in countries situated around the Mediterranean basin. The paper traces the history of the prevention system from its early stages of inception in the early 60s, when Cyprus became a republic, up to 1984 when it achieved a 100% prevention rate. By examining the prevention system's trajectory through its spatial and temporal dimensions, and by exploring the main actors involved in this process, I develop an ethical paradigm of how relations between genetic science and polity should be fostered. Following Isabelle Stengers' proposition of "slow science" (2011), I make the case that the Cypriot thalassaemia prevention system proved successful because it accounted for and treated uncertainties met in its course as potential points of articulation between genetic science and the Cypriot public, instead of disregarding them in favour of actualising a predetermined plan.