Transgenic Silences: The Rhetoric of Comparisons and Transgenic Mice as ‘Ordinary Treasures’

摘要: This article addresses how people who handle transgenic animals in practice—laboratory workers and members of animal ethics committees—talk about dilemmas with animals. It is shown associated become back-grounded through rhetorical comparisons ‘something else’. Through these comparisons, are framed as normal, ordinary thereby unproblematic on the one hand, valuable treasures which embedded hopes expectations future medical treatments other. tension builds up to a discourse mice treasures. Towards end we discuss this tends exclude possibilities discussing specific genetically modified Instead contributing certain silences. based project ‘Dilemmas animals’, notions culture nature, risk safety, innovation organism, science technology, investigated scientific production, use ethical evaluation The case studies two different contexts: laboratories committees. methods used interviews ethnographic fieldwork.