The Social Legitimation of Biomedical Technologies in Russia: Communication Challenges for Science and Society

Abstract

Throughout history the development of medical institution was followed by the extension of medical expertise boundaries. Progress in new medical biotechnologies and the manipulation of human biological material, in particular, raise the conceptual question of how to define the boundaries between human beings and biological material. This paper focuses on the analysis of attitudes towards research on the human body, in scientific, political and cultural discourse. In public discussions about stem cell technology we found that the extension of medical expertise boundaries caused an intervention of ethical expertise in the fields of science and medicine. Nevertheless, the cultural conflict does not become an obstacle to the recognition of stem cell research and its legitimation in the collective consciousness.