Ana Barahona - Academia.edu (original) (raw)
Papers by Ana Barahona
Origins of Life and Evolution of Biospheres, 2019
In this review, we describe some of the central philosophical issues facing origins-of-life resea... more In this review, we describe some of the central philosophical issues facing origins-of-life research and provide a targeted history of the developments that have led to the multidisciplinary field of origins-of-life studies. We outline these issues and developments to guide researchers and students from all fields. With respect to philosophy, we provide brief summaries of debates with respect to (1) definitions (or theories) of life, what life is and how research should be conducted in the absence of an accepted theory of life, (2) the distinctions between synthetic, historical, and universal projects in origins-of-life studies, issues with strategies for inferring the origins of life, such as (3) the nature of the first living entities (the “bottom up” approach) and (4) how to infer the nature of the last universal common ancestor (the “top down” approach), and (5) the status of origins of life as a science. Each of these debates influences the others. Although there are clusters of researchers that agree on some answers to these issues, each of these debates is still open. With respect to history, we outline several independent paths that have led to some of the approaches now prevalent in origins-of-life studies. These include one path from early views of life through the scientific revolutions brought about by Linnaeus (von Linn.), Wöhler, Miller, and others. In this approach, new theories, tools, and evidence guide new thoughts about the nature of life and its origin.We also describe another family of paths motivated by a” circularity” approach to life, which is guided by such thinkers as Maturana & Varela, Gánti, Rosen, and others. These views echo ideas developed by Kant and Aristotle, though they do so using modern science in ways that produce exciting avenues of investigation. By exploring the history of these ideas, we can see how many of the issues that currently interest us have been guided by the contexts in which the ideas were developed. The disciplinary backgrounds of each of these scholars has influenced the questions they sought to answer, the experiments they envisioned, and the kinds of data they collected. We conclude by encouraging scientists and scholars in the humanities and social sciences to explore ways in which they can interact to provide a deeper understanding of the conceptual assumptions, structure, and history of origins-of-life research. This may be useful to help frame future research agendas and bring awareness to the multifaceted issues facing this challenging scientific question
PubMed, 2013
In this paper I analyze the conditions for scientific research and the social relationships that ... more In this paper I analyze the conditions for scientific research and the social relationships that allowed the establishment of genetics in Mexico, in the laboratory, the clinic and in agronomy. I give three examples to illustrate how the cultural history of heredity has enlightened this work: the introduction and institutionalization of Mendelism in Mexico, the hereditarian ideas of medical doctors in the late nineteenth century, and the introduction of medical genetics in Mexico.
Asclepio-revista De Historia De La Medicina Y De La Ciencia, Dec 30, 2002
Se analiza la teoría del equilibrio puntuado y las causas de que habiendo sido enunciada como una... more Se analiza la teoría del equilibrio puntuado y las causas de que habiendo sido enunciada como una teoría evolutiva de amplio alcance en la actualidad sólo sea una teoría de aplicación limitada, o de rango medio. Se estudian los factores responsables de esta transformación y se concluye con una visión sobre lo que cabe esperar para el futuro próximo. PALABRAS CLAVE: equilibrio puntuado, síntesis moderna, teorías de rango medio, registro fósil.
History and Philosophy of the Life Sciences
We performed a critical review of the historiographical studies on biogeography. We began with th... more We performed a critical review of the historiographical studies on biogeography. We began with the pioneering works of Augustin and Alphonse de Candolle. Then, we analyzed the historical accounts of biogeography developed by (1) Martin Fichman and his history on the extensionism-permanentism debate; (2) Gareth Nelson and his critique of the Neo-Darwinian historiography of biogeography; (3) Ernst Mayr, with his dispersalist viewpoint; (4) Alan Richardson, who wrote a microhistory on the biogeographic model constructed by Darwin; (5) Michael Paul Kinch and the ideas discussed in the 19th century about the geographical distribution of living beings; (6) Janet Browne, who highlighted the importance of the pre-Darwinian naturalists; (7) Peter Bowler, who focused mainly on the influence of paleontology on biogeography; (8) James Larson, who looked into the practices of the naturalists of Northern Europe in the late 18th century; and (9) Malte Ebach, who like Larson, was more interested in...
Metatheoria – Revista de Filosofía e Historia de la Ciencia
El tema de la evolución de los seres vivos resulta fundamental tanto para la biología como para l... more El tema de la evolución de los seres vivos resulta fundamental tanto para la biología como para la educación científica. En este trabajo se presenta una parte de un proyecto de investigación mayor que busca analizar tanto la presencia, como el estado de la teoría de la evolución biológica en los libros de texto de educación básica mexicanos, desde que se creó la Secretaría de Educación Pública en 1921.El análisis histórico y de los contenidos del tema de la evolución biológica en los libros de texto mexicanos ha sido poco tratado. El presente texto se enfoca en un periodo interesante y de particular importancia en la historia educativa de México: el proyecto de la educación socialista, que fue propuesto e implementado brevemente durante la década de 1930. Las autoras ponen particular énfasis en la ideología socialista detrás de la enseñanza de la evolución, puesto que es lo distintivo del periodo y del proyecto.
Archives Internationales d'Histoire des Sciences, 2021
Culture & History Digital Journal, 2021
This manuscript presents the genesis and development of the so-called “Mexican socialist” school ... more This manuscript presents the genesis and development of the so-called “Mexican socialist” school system of the 1930s, whose leading stakeholder was President Lázaro Cárdenas. At the beginning of the socialist project, Mexico underwent the most politicized and controversial education reform in its modern history. Much has been said about this ambitious project of social change. However, a thorough exam is still needed, especially on how socialist values were globalized and appropriated in the Mexican scenario regarding the new State project of basic education. In this sense we are interested in how science was portrayed in Natural Sciences textbooks, especially focusing in biological evolution.
Oxford University Press eBooks, Sep 2, 2009
This article throws light on an important topic of study that is rhetoric, which is debated as ne... more This article throws light on an important topic of study that is rhetoric, which is debated as neutral tool for bringing about agreements, or an immoral activity that ends in manipulation. There are different versions of rhetoric given by various scientists. It has important social roles such as the testing of ideas, giving shape to knowledge, and deducing responses from someone having an opposing view. Gould's articles help us to understand the use of specific rhetorical strategies and tools, during the debate around the theory of punctuated-equilibria. This is done by using a philosophical approach which distrusts the interpretation of fossil records given by most paleontologists, by using specific visual representations that suggested that the competing theory was committed to the idea of slow evolution at a constant rate, and by presenting the theory of paleontology along with modern synthesis. Rhetorical communication is intimately involved in the assessment of claims and discoveries.
ANA BARAHONA, ACADEMICA DE LA FACULTAD DE CIENCIAS DE LA UNAM, EN RECONOCIMIENTO A SU DESTACADA T... more ANA BARAHONA, ACADEMICA DE LA FACULTAD DE CIENCIAS DE LA UNAM, EN RECONOCIMIENTO A SU DESTACADA TRAYECTORIA EN EL AREA DE LA HISTORIA DE LA CIENCIA EN MEXICO, FUE INVITADA A ESCRIBIR UN ARTICULO EN LA PRESTIGIADA REVISTA INTERNACIONAL "NATURE REVIEWS GENETICS". SE TRATA DE "THE EMERGENCE AND DEVELOPMENT OF GENETICS IN MEXICO", TEXTO EN COautorIA CON FRANCISCO J. AYALA, DE LA UNIVERSIDAD DE CALIFORNIA, QUE APARECIO EN LA SECCION "PERSPECTIVES" DEL NUMERO DE NOVIEMBRE. DICHA EDICION FORMA PARTE DEL GRUPO EDITORIAL "NATURE", EL CORPORATIVO QUE PUBLICA LOS RESULTADOS CIENTIFICOS MAS IMPORTANTES DEL PLANETA, ACLARO LA BIOLOGA. LA IDEA ESPECIFICA ERA ESCRIBIR UN ARTICULO SOBRE EL SURGIMIENTO Y DESARROLLO DE LA GENETICA EN MEXICO, EXTENDIENDOLO A OTROS PAISES DE AMERICA LATINA. EN ESTE CASO LA UNIVERSITARIA ELIGIO BRASIL. EL CAMPO DE INVESTIGACION DE ANA BARAHONA ES LA HISTORIA Y FILOSOFIA DE LA CIENCIA, Y UNA DE SUS LINEAS DE TRABAJO MAS IMPORTANTES...
ANA BARAHONA, PROFESORA DE LA FACULTAD DE CIENCIAS, FUE NOMBRADA PRESIDENTA ELECTA DE LA SOCIEDAD... more ANA BARAHONA, PROFESORA DE LA FACULTAD DE CIENCIAS, FUE NOMBRADA PRESIDENTA ELECTA DE LA SOCIEDAD INTERNACIONAL DE HISTORIA, FILOSOFIA Y ESTUDIOS SOCIALES DE LA BIOLOGIA, POR VOTACION UNIVERSAL DE LOS MIEMBROS DE LA MISMA, CONVIRTIENDOSE EN EL PRIMER SOCIO NO ESTADUNIDENSE QUE ASUME ESE CARGO. DICHA SOCIEDAD, QUE AGRUPA A LOS M S DESTACADOS CIENTIFICOS EN ESA REA, TIENE COMO PROPOSITO SER UN ESPACIO DE COMUNICACION ENTRE LOS INVESTIGADORES, ASI COMO UN ORGANO DE DIVULGACION DE LOS ESTUDIOS QUE AHI SE REALIZAN. LA INSTITUCION TIENE UN PRESIDENTE, UN PRESIDENTE ELECTO (CON FUNCIONES DE VICEPRESIDENTE), Y UN PASTPRESIDENTE (U HONORARIO), ADEM S DE UN CONSEJO DIRECTIVO (COUNCIL) CON OCHO MIEMBROS. LA UNIVERSITARIA MANTENDR ESTA POSICION HASTA 2009, CUANDO EN AUSTRALIA -EN EL PROXIMO CONGRESO DE ESA SOCIEDAD INTERNACIONAL- PASE A SER LA PRESIDENTA, Y DOS ANOS M S TARDE ASUMIR EL CARGO HONORIFICO. LA SOCIEDAD SURGIO EN LA DECADA DE LOS 80 DEL SIGLO PASADO, COMO RESULTADO DEL IMPORTANTE...
History and Philosophy of the Life Sciences
La evolución es la base de toda la biología moderna. Uno de los aspectos más sobresalientes de lo... more La evolución es la base de toda la biología moderna. Uno de los aspectos más sobresalientes de los estudios actuales sobre la historia de la evolución es el interés creciente por explorar su papel y alcance en ámbitos no científicos, por ejemplo, en la educación. Algunos académicos han explorado la manera en que la teoría de la evolución fue introducida a los salones de clases; sin embargo, son pocos los estudios realizados específicamente sobre el escenario mexicano. Desde hace ya varias décadas, historiadores, filósofos, sociólogos y psicólogos han dirigido grandes esfuerzos hacia la comprensión de la naturaleza de las imágenes visuales y su papel en la generación de conocimiento y en el entendimiento de conceptos. El campo denominado “Estudios Sociales de Imágenes y Visualización Científica” (Scientific Imaging and Visualization) trata cuestiones enfocadas con la dimensión social y las implicaciones de las imágenes científicas y el conocimiento visual. En este trabajo buscamos re...
NTM Zeitschrift für Geschichte der Wissenschaften, Technik und Medizin
After WWII, global concerns about the uses of nuclear energy and radiation sources in agriculture... more After WWII, global concerns about the uses of nuclear energy and radiation sources in agriculture, medicine, and industry brought about calls for radiation protection. At the beginning of the 1960s radiation protection involved the identification and measurement of all sources of radiation to which a population was exposed, and the evaluation and assessment of populations in terms of the biological hazard their exposure posed. Mexico was not an exception to this international trend. This paper goes back to the origins of the first studies on the effects of radiation and on radioprotective compounds in the Genetics and Radiobiology Program of the National Commission of Nuclear Energy founded in 1960, at a time when the effects of radiation on living beings and radiation protection demanded the attention of highly localized groups of scientists and the creation of international as well as national institutions, and its connection to dosimetry and radiation protection until the 1990s. ...
The authors of this manuscript are interested mainly in meta-scientific studies, particularly in ... more The authors of this manuscript are interested mainly in meta-scientific studies, particularly in historical reflection on biology. Species in the Age of Discordance being the main theme of this special issue, and taking inspiration from the idea that “biological lineages move through time, space and each other”, we find it thought-provoking to show that just as biological lineages have histories, diverse conceptual categories have also been historically constituted. Moreover their visual representations have been discordant at different levels, such as the concepts of species and race. This article presents how the struggle to achieve a human taxonomy in late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Europe had a fundamental visual component that reflects the discussions and theories that led to important discordances in the racial classification of Homo sapiens and in other species of hominins. Using as main visual artifacts the representation of evolutionary trees, the painting of c...
Astrobiology, 2015
Contents 1. Introduction 1.1. A workshop and this document 1.2. Framing origins of life science 1... more Contents 1. Introduction 1.1. A workshop and this document 1.2. Framing origins of life science 1.2.1. What do we mean by the origins of life (OoL)? 1.2.2. Defining life 1.2.3. How should we characterize approaches to OoL science? 1.2.4. One path to life or many? 2. A Strategy for Origins of Life Research 2.1. Outcomes-key questions and investigations 2.1.1. Domain 1: Theory 2.1.2. Domain 2: Practice 2.1.3. Domain 3: Process 2.1.4. Domain 4: Future studies 2.2. EON Roadmap 2.3. Relationship to NASA Astrobiology Roadmap and Strategy documents and the European AstRoMap Appendix I Appendix II Supplementary Materials References.
Genetics, Sep 1, 2016
Following World War II (WWII), there was a new emphasis within genetics on studying the genetic c... more Following World War II (WWII), there was a new emphasis within genetics on studying the genetic composition of populations. This probably had a dual source in the growing strength of evolutionary biology and the new international interest in understanding the effects of radiation on human populations, following the atomic bombings in Japan. These global concerns were shared by Mexican physicians. Indeed, Mexico was one of the leading centers of this trend in human genetics. Three leading players in this story were Mario Salazar Mallén, Adolfo Karl, and Rubén Lisker. Their trajectories and the international networks in human genetics that were established after WWII, paved the way for the establishment of medical and population genetics in Mexico. Salazar Mallén's studies on the distribution and characterization of ABO blood groups in indigenous populations were the starting point while Karl's studies on the distribution of abnormal hemoglobin in Mexican indigenous population...
Origins of Life and Evolution of Biospheres, 2019
In this review, we describe some of the central philosophical issues facing origins-of-life resea... more In this review, we describe some of the central philosophical issues facing origins-of-life research and provide a targeted history of the developments that have led to the multidisciplinary field of origins-of-life studies. We outline these issues and developments to guide researchers and students from all fields. With respect to philosophy, we provide brief summaries of debates with respect to (1) definitions (or theories) of life, what life is and how research should be conducted in the absence of an accepted theory of life, (2) the distinctions between synthetic, historical, and universal projects in origins-of-life studies, issues with strategies for inferring the origins of life, such as (3) the nature of the first living entities (the “bottom up” approach) and (4) how to infer the nature of the last universal common ancestor (the “top down” approach), and (5) the status of origins of life as a science. Each of these debates influences the others. Although there are clusters of researchers that agree on some answers to these issues, each of these debates is still open. With respect to history, we outline several independent paths that have led to some of the approaches now prevalent in origins-of-life studies. These include one path from early views of life through the scientific revolutions brought about by Linnaeus (von Linn.), Wöhler, Miller, and others. In this approach, new theories, tools, and evidence guide new thoughts about the nature of life and its origin.We also describe another family of paths motivated by a” circularity” approach to life, which is guided by such thinkers as Maturana & Varela, Gánti, Rosen, and others. These views echo ideas developed by Kant and Aristotle, though they do so using modern science in ways that produce exciting avenues of investigation. By exploring the history of these ideas, we can see how many of the issues that currently interest us have been guided by the contexts in which the ideas were developed. The disciplinary backgrounds of each of these scholars has influenced the questions they sought to answer, the experiments they envisioned, and the kinds of data they collected. We conclude by encouraging scientists and scholars in the humanities and social sciences to explore ways in which they can interact to provide a deeper understanding of the conceptual assumptions, structure, and history of origins-of-life research. This may be useful to help frame future research agendas and bring awareness to the multifaceted issues facing this challenging scientific question
PubMed, 2013
In this paper I analyze the conditions for scientific research and the social relationships that ... more In this paper I analyze the conditions for scientific research and the social relationships that allowed the establishment of genetics in Mexico, in the laboratory, the clinic and in agronomy. I give three examples to illustrate how the cultural history of heredity has enlightened this work: the introduction and institutionalization of Mendelism in Mexico, the hereditarian ideas of medical doctors in the late nineteenth century, and the introduction of medical genetics in Mexico.
Asclepio-revista De Historia De La Medicina Y De La Ciencia, Dec 30, 2002
Se analiza la teoría del equilibrio puntuado y las causas de que habiendo sido enunciada como una... more Se analiza la teoría del equilibrio puntuado y las causas de que habiendo sido enunciada como una teoría evolutiva de amplio alcance en la actualidad sólo sea una teoría de aplicación limitada, o de rango medio. Se estudian los factores responsables de esta transformación y se concluye con una visión sobre lo que cabe esperar para el futuro próximo. PALABRAS CLAVE: equilibrio puntuado, síntesis moderna, teorías de rango medio, registro fósil.
History and Philosophy of the Life Sciences
We performed a critical review of the historiographical studies on biogeography. We began with th... more We performed a critical review of the historiographical studies on biogeography. We began with the pioneering works of Augustin and Alphonse de Candolle. Then, we analyzed the historical accounts of biogeography developed by (1) Martin Fichman and his history on the extensionism-permanentism debate; (2) Gareth Nelson and his critique of the Neo-Darwinian historiography of biogeography; (3) Ernst Mayr, with his dispersalist viewpoint; (4) Alan Richardson, who wrote a microhistory on the biogeographic model constructed by Darwin; (5) Michael Paul Kinch and the ideas discussed in the 19th century about the geographical distribution of living beings; (6) Janet Browne, who highlighted the importance of the pre-Darwinian naturalists; (7) Peter Bowler, who focused mainly on the influence of paleontology on biogeography; (8) James Larson, who looked into the practices of the naturalists of Northern Europe in the late 18th century; and (9) Malte Ebach, who like Larson, was more interested in...
Metatheoria – Revista de Filosofía e Historia de la Ciencia
El tema de la evolución de los seres vivos resulta fundamental tanto para la biología como para l... more El tema de la evolución de los seres vivos resulta fundamental tanto para la biología como para la educación científica. En este trabajo se presenta una parte de un proyecto de investigación mayor que busca analizar tanto la presencia, como el estado de la teoría de la evolución biológica en los libros de texto de educación básica mexicanos, desde que se creó la Secretaría de Educación Pública en 1921.El análisis histórico y de los contenidos del tema de la evolución biológica en los libros de texto mexicanos ha sido poco tratado. El presente texto se enfoca en un periodo interesante y de particular importancia en la historia educativa de México: el proyecto de la educación socialista, que fue propuesto e implementado brevemente durante la década de 1930. Las autoras ponen particular énfasis en la ideología socialista detrás de la enseñanza de la evolución, puesto que es lo distintivo del periodo y del proyecto.
Archives Internationales d'Histoire des Sciences, 2021
Culture & History Digital Journal, 2021
This manuscript presents the genesis and development of the so-called “Mexican socialist” school ... more This manuscript presents the genesis and development of the so-called “Mexican socialist” school system of the 1930s, whose leading stakeholder was President Lázaro Cárdenas. At the beginning of the socialist project, Mexico underwent the most politicized and controversial education reform in its modern history. Much has been said about this ambitious project of social change. However, a thorough exam is still needed, especially on how socialist values were globalized and appropriated in the Mexican scenario regarding the new State project of basic education. In this sense we are interested in how science was portrayed in Natural Sciences textbooks, especially focusing in biological evolution.
Oxford University Press eBooks, Sep 2, 2009
This article throws light on an important topic of study that is rhetoric, which is debated as ne... more This article throws light on an important topic of study that is rhetoric, which is debated as neutral tool for bringing about agreements, or an immoral activity that ends in manipulation. There are different versions of rhetoric given by various scientists. It has important social roles such as the testing of ideas, giving shape to knowledge, and deducing responses from someone having an opposing view. Gould's articles help us to understand the use of specific rhetorical strategies and tools, during the debate around the theory of punctuated-equilibria. This is done by using a philosophical approach which distrusts the interpretation of fossil records given by most paleontologists, by using specific visual representations that suggested that the competing theory was committed to the idea of slow evolution at a constant rate, and by presenting the theory of paleontology along with modern synthesis. Rhetorical communication is intimately involved in the assessment of claims and discoveries.
ANA BARAHONA, ACADEMICA DE LA FACULTAD DE CIENCIAS DE LA UNAM, EN RECONOCIMIENTO A SU DESTACADA T... more ANA BARAHONA, ACADEMICA DE LA FACULTAD DE CIENCIAS DE LA UNAM, EN RECONOCIMIENTO A SU DESTACADA TRAYECTORIA EN EL AREA DE LA HISTORIA DE LA CIENCIA EN MEXICO, FUE INVITADA A ESCRIBIR UN ARTICULO EN LA PRESTIGIADA REVISTA INTERNACIONAL "NATURE REVIEWS GENETICS". SE TRATA DE "THE EMERGENCE AND DEVELOPMENT OF GENETICS IN MEXICO", TEXTO EN COautorIA CON FRANCISCO J. AYALA, DE LA UNIVERSIDAD DE CALIFORNIA, QUE APARECIO EN LA SECCION "PERSPECTIVES" DEL NUMERO DE NOVIEMBRE. DICHA EDICION FORMA PARTE DEL GRUPO EDITORIAL "NATURE", EL CORPORATIVO QUE PUBLICA LOS RESULTADOS CIENTIFICOS MAS IMPORTANTES DEL PLANETA, ACLARO LA BIOLOGA. LA IDEA ESPECIFICA ERA ESCRIBIR UN ARTICULO SOBRE EL SURGIMIENTO Y DESARROLLO DE LA GENETICA EN MEXICO, EXTENDIENDOLO A OTROS PAISES DE AMERICA LATINA. EN ESTE CASO LA UNIVERSITARIA ELIGIO BRASIL. EL CAMPO DE INVESTIGACION DE ANA BARAHONA ES LA HISTORIA Y FILOSOFIA DE LA CIENCIA, Y UNA DE SUS LINEAS DE TRABAJO MAS IMPORTANTES...
ANA BARAHONA, PROFESORA DE LA FACULTAD DE CIENCIAS, FUE NOMBRADA PRESIDENTA ELECTA DE LA SOCIEDAD... more ANA BARAHONA, PROFESORA DE LA FACULTAD DE CIENCIAS, FUE NOMBRADA PRESIDENTA ELECTA DE LA SOCIEDAD INTERNACIONAL DE HISTORIA, FILOSOFIA Y ESTUDIOS SOCIALES DE LA BIOLOGIA, POR VOTACION UNIVERSAL DE LOS MIEMBROS DE LA MISMA, CONVIRTIENDOSE EN EL PRIMER SOCIO NO ESTADUNIDENSE QUE ASUME ESE CARGO. DICHA SOCIEDAD, QUE AGRUPA A LOS M S DESTACADOS CIENTIFICOS EN ESA REA, TIENE COMO PROPOSITO SER UN ESPACIO DE COMUNICACION ENTRE LOS INVESTIGADORES, ASI COMO UN ORGANO DE DIVULGACION DE LOS ESTUDIOS QUE AHI SE REALIZAN. LA INSTITUCION TIENE UN PRESIDENTE, UN PRESIDENTE ELECTO (CON FUNCIONES DE VICEPRESIDENTE), Y UN PASTPRESIDENTE (U HONORARIO), ADEM S DE UN CONSEJO DIRECTIVO (COUNCIL) CON OCHO MIEMBROS. LA UNIVERSITARIA MANTENDR ESTA POSICION HASTA 2009, CUANDO EN AUSTRALIA -EN EL PROXIMO CONGRESO DE ESA SOCIEDAD INTERNACIONAL- PASE A SER LA PRESIDENTA, Y DOS ANOS M S TARDE ASUMIR EL CARGO HONORIFICO. LA SOCIEDAD SURGIO EN LA DECADA DE LOS 80 DEL SIGLO PASADO, COMO RESULTADO DEL IMPORTANTE...
History and Philosophy of the Life Sciences
La evolución es la base de toda la biología moderna. Uno de los aspectos más sobresalientes de lo... more La evolución es la base de toda la biología moderna. Uno de los aspectos más sobresalientes de los estudios actuales sobre la historia de la evolución es el interés creciente por explorar su papel y alcance en ámbitos no científicos, por ejemplo, en la educación. Algunos académicos han explorado la manera en que la teoría de la evolución fue introducida a los salones de clases; sin embargo, son pocos los estudios realizados específicamente sobre el escenario mexicano. Desde hace ya varias décadas, historiadores, filósofos, sociólogos y psicólogos han dirigido grandes esfuerzos hacia la comprensión de la naturaleza de las imágenes visuales y su papel en la generación de conocimiento y en el entendimiento de conceptos. El campo denominado “Estudios Sociales de Imágenes y Visualización Científica” (Scientific Imaging and Visualization) trata cuestiones enfocadas con la dimensión social y las implicaciones de las imágenes científicas y el conocimiento visual. En este trabajo buscamos re...
NTM Zeitschrift für Geschichte der Wissenschaften, Technik und Medizin
After WWII, global concerns about the uses of nuclear energy and radiation sources in agriculture... more After WWII, global concerns about the uses of nuclear energy and radiation sources in agriculture, medicine, and industry brought about calls for radiation protection. At the beginning of the 1960s radiation protection involved the identification and measurement of all sources of radiation to which a population was exposed, and the evaluation and assessment of populations in terms of the biological hazard their exposure posed. Mexico was not an exception to this international trend. This paper goes back to the origins of the first studies on the effects of radiation and on radioprotective compounds in the Genetics and Radiobiology Program of the National Commission of Nuclear Energy founded in 1960, at a time when the effects of radiation on living beings and radiation protection demanded the attention of highly localized groups of scientists and the creation of international as well as national institutions, and its connection to dosimetry and radiation protection until the 1990s. ...
The authors of this manuscript are interested mainly in meta-scientific studies, particularly in ... more The authors of this manuscript are interested mainly in meta-scientific studies, particularly in historical reflection on biology. Species in the Age of Discordance being the main theme of this special issue, and taking inspiration from the idea that “biological lineages move through time, space and each other”, we find it thought-provoking to show that just as biological lineages have histories, diverse conceptual categories have also been historically constituted. Moreover their visual representations have been discordant at different levels, such as the concepts of species and race. This article presents how the struggle to achieve a human taxonomy in late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Europe had a fundamental visual component that reflects the discussions and theories that led to important discordances in the racial classification of Homo sapiens and in other species of hominins. Using as main visual artifacts the representation of evolutionary trees, the painting of c...
Astrobiology, 2015
Contents 1. Introduction 1.1. A workshop and this document 1.2. Framing origins of life science 1... more Contents 1. Introduction 1.1. A workshop and this document 1.2. Framing origins of life science 1.2.1. What do we mean by the origins of life (OoL)? 1.2.2. Defining life 1.2.3. How should we characterize approaches to OoL science? 1.2.4. One path to life or many? 2. A Strategy for Origins of Life Research 2.1. Outcomes-key questions and investigations 2.1.1. Domain 1: Theory 2.1.2. Domain 2: Practice 2.1.3. Domain 3: Process 2.1.4. Domain 4: Future studies 2.2. EON Roadmap 2.3. Relationship to NASA Astrobiology Roadmap and Strategy documents and the European AstRoMap Appendix I Appendix II Supplementary Materials References.
Genetics, Sep 1, 2016
Following World War II (WWII), there was a new emphasis within genetics on studying the genetic c... more Following World War II (WWII), there was a new emphasis within genetics on studying the genetic composition of populations. This probably had a dual source in the growing strength of evolutionary biology and the new international interest in understanding the effects of radiation on human populations, following the atomic bombings in Japan. These global concerns were shared by Mexican physicians. Indeed, Mexico was one of the leading centers of this trend in human genetics. Three leading players in this story were Mario Salazar Mallén, Adolfo Karl, and Rubén Lisker. Their trajectories and the international networks in human genetics that were established after WWII, paved the way for the establishment of medical and population genetics in Mexico. Salazar Mallén's studies on the distribution and characterization of ABO blood groups in indigenous populations were the starting point while Karl's studies on the distribution of abnormal hemoglobin in Mexican indigenous population...
A. Barahona, ed. *Handbook of the Historiography of Latin American Studies on the Life Sciences and Medicine*, 2022
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this p... more The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.