Ordering the past, envisioning future(s): How review articles in synthetic biology make use of heterogeneous expectations

Abstract

This article deals with expectation dynamics in the field of synthetic biology. The article draws on scholarly review articles as the main material, complemented by expert interviews conducted with scholars from the field. The aim is to explore how expectations change over time and how they are used to justify and move the field. Drawing from conceptual advances of the sociology of expectations, I show how expectations are increasingly linked at different levels (the landscape, sector, and niche level) and how they support and justify the field among different audiences. The analysis shows that, while in the early period expectations supported different innovation paths and communities (such as chemical biology, protocell research, as well as bioengineering), bioengineering becomes the dominant representation in the second period. Linkages between expectation levels increase the relevance of bioengineering concepts, while the history type of review articles link bioengineering’s past with the future of the field. Interviews and complementary material reveal that this reflects changes in the community as well as in the policy realm. Based on the material, it is argued that review articles can play a role in the formation of collective expectations and in the construction of scientific collectives, such as synthetic biology.