Department of Science Studies, Seoul National University, Seoul, South Korea.
Hist Philos Life Sci. 2023 Jun 14;45(2):24. doi: 10.1007/s40656-023-00579-2.
Masui Kiyoshi (1887-1981), a prominent Japanese geneticist, is best known for inventing the sex-sorting method of chicks and his contributions to experimental genetics in Japan. Masui drew inspiration from Goldschmidt's sex determination theory and used chickens, transplantation techniques, and his own "chick sexing" methods in his scientific work. This paper examines the intersection of genetics and industrial breeding by tracing the evolution of Masui's experimental systems. During the early 20th century, poultry farming emerged as a significant industry in Japan, resulting in the development of standardized organisms and techniques for chicken farming. Masui, a professor at Tokyo Imperial University, collaborated with the Imperial Zootechnical Experimental Station to use these organisms as models for sex determination theory while exploring their further industrial possibilities. First, the paper show how Masui viewed chickens as epistemological objects and transformed his anatomical discoveries into standardized industrial practices. Next, it describes how Masui's collaboration with German geneticist Richard Goldschmidt led to new academic questions about sex determination mechanisms and how he integrated his knowledge of chicken physiology into his research on "experimental gynandromorphs" to elaborate the theories. Lastly, the paper discusses the biotechnological ideals that Masui aimed to achieve and how they were co-constructed with his mass-production method of intersex chickens from the early 1930s. The trajectory of Masui's experimental systems highlights the dynamic relationship between agroindustry and genetics in the early twentieth century and demonstrates the 'biology of history' in which the biological processes of organisms intertwine with their epistemological history.
Masui Kiyoshi（1887-1981）是一位杰出的日本遗传学家，以发明小鸡性别分拣方法和对日本实验遗传学的贡献而闻名。Masui 的灵感来自 Goldschmidt 的性别决定理论，并在他的科学工作中使用了鸡、移植技术和他自己的“小鸡性别分拣”方法。本文通过追溯 Masui 实验系统的演变，考察了遗传学和工业养殖的交叉点。在 20 世纪早期，家禽养殖业在日本成为一个重要的产业，导致了标准化生物和养鸡技术的发展。Masui 是东京帝国大学的教授，与帝国动物养殖实验站合作，将这些生物作为性别决定理论的模型，同时探索其进一步的工业可能性。首先，本文展示了 Masui 如何将鸡视为认识论对象，并将他的解剖学发现转化为标准化的工业实践。接下来，它描述了 Masui 与德国遗传学家 Richard Goldschmidt 的合作如何导致关于性别决定机制的新学术问题，以及他如何将他对鸡生理学的了解融入到他对“实验性雌雄同体”的研究中，以阐述理论。最后，本文讨论了 Masui 旨在实现的生物技术理想，以及它们如何与他从 20 世纪 30 年代早期开始用雌雄同体鸡进行大规模生产的方法共同构建。Masui 实验系统的轨迹突出了 20 世纪早期农业工业和遗传学之间的动态关系，并展示了生物体的生物过程与它们的认识论历史交织在一起的“历史生物学”。
