ASHG Historical Session Report

ASHG Historical Session, 27th October 2004

The American Society for Human Genetics held a historical session as part of its 2004 annual meeting in Toronto, Canada on 27th October 2004, co-ordinated by the Genetics and Medicine Historical Network. This highly successful event attracted an audience of around 300 people. Below you can see the outline of the workshop (as in the ASHG programme) and also a report on the workshop for the GENMEDHIST newsletter. A recording has been made and transcripts of the talks will be available.

HUMAN GENETICS: HISTORICAL ASPECTS
Moderator: Victor A McKusick, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore

The profound effects of developments in genetics on medicine and many other aspects of life mean that the history of human and medical genetics is likely, in the near future, to be recognised as of the highest importance in both scientific and medical terms, and for society in general.

Human genetics is a relatively recent field, with all of its origins in the previous century, and most in the past 50 years. Since many of the key workers and founders are still living, this gives special opportunities to document the oral history and written sources. Failure to take these opportunities may mean that much valuable material will be irrevocably lost. Indeed, much already has been,

When younger scientists entering human genetics become aware of the history of their field, they learn about major research traditions, experimental strategies, the origins of important methods and instruments, and the culture of science. All these are valuable—perhaps essential—for developing as a scientist. The development of medical genetics has also been greatly influenced by political and social factors in many countries and is thus of great interest for the general public. Further, much recent research is already beginning to become part of history. We must take steps now so that it is documented as such for the future.

While it is vital for us as geneticists to encourage an interest in the history of our own field, it is equally important to involve historians and social scientists in the process; interaction across disciplines helps us to get the facts right, understand the relationships among the dimensions of science such as researchers, funding, methods, and experiments, and to put the whole endeavor into a wider context.

• 8.00am Oral history and the origins of medical genetics. Nathaniel Comfort, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD
  
• 8.30am Some memories of the early days of The American Society of Human Genetics, the journal, and its first editor, Charles Cotterman. James F. Crow, University of Wisconsin, Madison
  
• 9.00am The genetics and medicine historical network. An international initiative for recording and preserving the history of human genetics: Peter S Harper, University of Wales College of Medicine, Cardiff, UK

Report, ASHG session, ‘Human genetics, Historical Aspects’, 27.10.2004. Toronto

Dr Nathaniel Comfort (Johns Hopkins and UCLA) presented material from the ongoing American oral history project comparing three of the founding medical genetics departments – Johns Hopkins, Baltimore (Victor McKusick); University of Washington, Seattle (Arno Motulsky) and University of Madison, Wisconsin (James Crow). He showed how the nature of the institutions and the skills and interest of the founders have had a crucial and lasting influence on how medical genetics developed in these three centres.

The final speaker was Peter Harper (Cardiff, UK), who outlined some of the current and developing activities of the Genetics and Medicine Historical Network, including the archiving of Society and individual records, the newly formed Human Genetics Historical Library, a structure for historical interest groups in human genetics across Europe, based on The European Society for Human Genetics, and forthcoming events, notably the Brno workshop in Mendel’s Abbey in May 2005.

The session received very positive feedback from the audience and a number of people suggested that such sessions might form a regular part of the annual programme. It is also hoped that a co-ordinated American historical initiative, based around the considerable existing interest and activities, can be developed alongside and linking with that in progress across Europe.