Paper long abstract:

In this paper, we focus on the current emergence of synthetic biology (SB) as a techno-scientific fields (TSF) whose ambition is to apply engineering principles to biology. The process of emergence of synthetic biology has to be analyzed as a socio-technical one, where cognitive and social processes are intertwined and which involve: 1- cumulative building of techno-scientific networks, through which new ideas are put into practice, related to new entities, instruments, experimental practices, modeling, etc. 2- cumulative building of the social dimensions of the field: boundaries, positions of actors related to their capital, etc.3- management of the interactions between the scientific field and its environment.

We claim that it is possible to analyze this process with a scientometric approach designed to follow a process of structuration (Giddens 1984). This approach is inspired both by actor network theory which is adapted to catch local processes of stabilization in fluid situations and by theories of emerging fields which pay attention to the emergence of new structures. This leads us to use the analysis of the dynamics of socio-semantic networks to study the co-construction of emerging structures (boundaries, core sets, stratification, etc.) and cognitive norms (core concepts, ideas, instruments, etc.). We also focus on the key role of "institutional entrepreneurs" that goes typically beyond the scientific community, and involves diverse dimensions of research and innovation policies: safety regulation, IPR's, "ethical" dimensions, etc.