Nature in the laboratory: biological knowledge and its biases

Fotografia: Alfred Sturtevant al seu despatx (1949). Gentilesa dels arxius, California Institute of Technology: http://archives.caltech.edu/

EXHIBITION:From 24th April to 3rd May.
Model creatures. Between nature and the laboratory

Opening hours:
Tuesday – Friday: 17:00h-20:00h
Saturday: 11:00h-14:00h and 17:00h-20:00h
Sunday:11:00h – 14:00h

SERIES OF CONFERENCES:
All the conferences will take places at 7pm

Did you know that the extensive knowledge we have on living beings is derived from a very small number of species? The exhibition ‘Model creatures. Between nature and the laboratory’ looks at seven species which, at some point in history, were brought into the laboratory and over time have become central objects in biological and biomedical research. We call them ‘model organisms’, and thanks to them we now have much greater knowledge about how living beings function. However, research on this ‘nature’ in the ‘laboratory’ also throws up questions of a scientific, philosophical and gender nature in terms of the knowledge that is obtained. This season of dialogues will cover some of these issues.

Model organisms represent a tiny fraction of the planet’s biodiversity, and could well constitute a biased sample of living creatures. The fact that they have been chosen as models has had to do with abundance, economy, ease of handling in the laboratory and certain other characteristics (large embryos, transparency, etc). We might ask, therefore, if these characteristics are representative of nature or if perhaps they might be distorting our biological knowledge. For some time, furthermore, other possible biases in scientific practice have emerged, such as gender, which could also be directly affecting the results of the research.

Cycle: Nature in the laboratory: biological knowledge and its biases

Organized by: Residence for Researchers CSIC-Generalitat of Catalonia