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Human Genetics and the Anglo-Saxon Culture

par Perbal, Laurence
Editeur scientifique Van Kerkhove, Bart;Libert, Thierry ;Vanpaemel, Geert;Marage, Pierre
Référence Second Young Researchers Days & Workshop on the Relations between Logic, Philosophy and History of Science(6-7 septembre 2012: Palais des Académies, Bruxelles, Belgique), Logic, Philosophy and History of Science in Belgium II, Proceedings of the Young Researchers Days 2010, Bart Van Kerkhove, Thierry Libert, Geert Vanpaemel & Pierre Marage, Bruxelles
Publication Publié, 2012

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Résumé :

Human genetics has grown principally in the United States and England from the early 20th century. The causes for that are scientific, ideological and cultural. Firstly, Mendelism is well established in Anglo-Saxon geneticists’ community, reinforcing hereditarianism. In comparison, in most countries of continental Europe, biological tradition is Lamarckian, thus the belief in heredity of acquired traits still dominates. Moreover, human genetics in the early 20th is deeply related to the eugenic movement. Eugenics, although different in U.S.A. and England, was in both countries an important financial and ideological support for genetics. Germany, notably under the Nazi regime, has been a major research center too. On the contrary, in France - and Belgium -, eugenics was related to the social hygiene movement, so it has mostly stimulated the development of social reforms in public health domain. For these reasons, and others linked to the specific philosophical and sociological contexts of that time, human genetics has developed only lately in most of continental Europe and may be seen as a typical product of Anglo-Saxon culture.