Stelmach Aleksandra, Nerlich Brigitte
School of Sociology and Social Policy, Institute for Science and Society, University of Nottingham , Nottingham , UK.
New Genet Soc. 2015 Apr 3;34(2):196-218. doi: 10.1080/14636778.2015.1034849. Epub 2015 May 12.
Carrying out research in genetics and genomics and communicating about them would not be possible without metaphors such as "information," "code," "letter" or "book." Genetic and genomic metaphors have remained relatively stable for a long time but are now beginning to shift in the context of synthetic biology and epigenetics. This article charts the emergence of metaphors in the context of epigenetics, first through collecting some examples of metaphors in scientific and popular writing and second through a systematic analysis of metaphors used in two UK broadsheets. Findings show that while source domains for metaphors can be identified, such as our knowledge of electrical switches or of bookmarks, it is difficult to pinpoint target domains for such metaphors. This may be indicative both of struggles over what epigenetics means for scientists (natural and social) and of difficulties associated with talking about this, as yet, young field in the popular press.
如果没有“信息”“密码”“字母”或“书籍”等隐喻，遗传学和基因组学研究以及相关的交流都将无法进行。长期以来，遗传和基因组隐喻相对稳定，但如今在合成生物学和表观遗传学背景下正开始发生变化。本文首先通过收集科学写作和通俗写作中隐喻的一些例子，其次通过对英国两份大报中使用的隐喻进行系统分析，梳理表观遗传学背景下隐喻的出现情况。研究结果表明，虽然可以确定隐喻的源域，比如我们对电开关或书签的认知，但很难确定这些隐喻的目标域。这可能既表明了科学家（包括自然科学家和社会科学家）对于表观遗传学意义的争论，也反映了在大众媒体中谈论这个尚处于起步阶段的领域所存在的困难。
