De la alquimia a la biología molecular. Marcos tecnológicos en tensión en una firma de biotecnología orientada a la salud humana en la década de 1980.

AGUIAR DIEGO; THOMAS HERNÁN

Journal of Medical Humanities & Social Studies of Science and Technology

Journal of Medical Humanities & Social Studies of Science and Technology

Lugar: Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires; Año: 2013 vol. 5 p. 1 - 51

1852-4680

In 1983 one of the first Latin America biotechnology companies in the human health sector was created. It used state of the art genetic engineering techniques to produce biopharmaceuticals. It was one of the first Latin American companies to produce interferons. It has currently achieved the simultaneous production of seven human proteins by recombining DNA. It is viable in commercial terms and exported 75% of its production to more than 30 countries, which means that it had a differential behavior regarding the characteristics of the techno-productive Argentinean pattern. The objective of this work is to analyze how, during the 1980s -the years in which the company was established- the following dimensions were changing: the socio-cognitive dynamic, the development of productive processes and the interactions. In the analysis, technological frames are o reconstructed -these include the interrelationship between social, ideological, cognitive and technological aspects- that were at stake, supported by two groups of professionals from the company.