de Chadarevian Soraya
Dynamis. 2015;35(2):359-88. doi: 10.4321/s0211-95362015000200005.
This essay draws attention to the role of the WHO in shaping research agendas in the biomedical sciences in the postwar era. It considers in particular the genetic studies of human populations that were pursued under the aegis of the WHO from the late 1950s to 1970s. The study provides insights into how human and medical genetics entered the agenda of the WHO. At the same time, the population studies become a focus for tracking changing notions of international relations, cooperation, and development and their impact on research in biology and medicine in the post-World War I era. After a brief discussion of the early history of the WHO and its position in Cold War politics, the essay considers the WHO program in radiation protection and heredity and how the genetic study of "vanishing" human populations and a world-wide genetic study of newborns fitted this broader agenda. It then considers in more detail the kind of support offered by the WHO for these projects. The essay highlights the role of single individuals in taking advantage of WHO support for pushing their research agendas while establishing a trend towards cooperative international projects in biology.
本文关注世界卫生组织（WHO）在塑造战后生物医学科学研究议程方面所发挥的作用。它特别考察了20世纪50年代末至70年代在WHO支持下开展的人类群体基因研究。该研究揭示了人类遗传学和医学遗传学是如何进入WHO议程的。同时，这些群体研究成为追踪一战后国际关系、合作与发展观念变化及其对生物学和医学研究影响的焦点。在简要讨论WHO的早期历史及其在冷战政治中的地位后，本文考察了WHO的辐射防护与遗传项目，以及对“正在消失”的人类群体的基因研究和一项全球新生儿基因研究是如何契合这一更广泛议程的。接着，本文更详细地探讨了WHO为这些项目提供的支持类型。本文强调了个人利用WHO的支持来推进其研究议程的作用，同时也确立了生物学领域国际合作项目的趋势。
