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Accepted Contribution:
Enchantment, fables, and unicorns in science: EPR and the construction of nanomedicine
Nicolas Rasmussen
(University of New South Wales)
Declan Kuch
(University of New South Wales)
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Long abstract:
Nanotechnology is a scientific field where STS scholars have observed the influence of magical thinking. Here we contribute to that literature by describing a discovery in the field of drug delivery (known as "the EPR Effect") which, when the nano boom of the 2000s brought intense interest and investment from outside the field, spawned so many efforts and enterprises in nano-based drug delivery that it became virtually the entire basis for nanomedicine. The collapse of the field that followed the 2016 failure of the most prominent of these biotech enterprises offers insights into the initial formation of nanomedicine. It also offers a platform from which we consider how contemporary science may incorporate elements of the magical, and how attributions of magic or enchantment to technoscience are best assessed.
Combined Format Open Panel
P057
How, when and why does science (fail to) correct itself?
Session 2