Paper short abstract:

Drawing on Michel Serres’ typology of three kinds of time, I reflect on how biomedical research does time and the problems this raises, mostly attributed to human users or viral and bacterial agents. I ask how might this be turned for a reformulation of the problem of infectious disease?

Paper long abstract:

According to Michel Serres, there are three kinds of time: mechanistic/repetitive, thermodynamic and evolutionary/ generative time which intermingle in the constituting of experience. Here I draw on Serres' typology to reflect on the manner in which biomedical research does time and the problems this raises, mostly attributed to human users or viral and bacterial agents. Bearing in mind calls for faster modes of generating research data in response to the Ebola and Zika epidemics, I ask how does the conventional RCT negotiate or, as the case may be, not negotiate its enrolling of time? How does time come to be seen as a problem when hinged to the RCT and, more broadly, biomedicine and how might this be turned for a reformulation of biomedical problems when dealing with infectious disease?