REPROGRAMMING PLATFORMS. THE CO-PRODUCTION OF SCIENTIFIC AND GOVERNANCE INNOVATION IN TRANSLATIONAL INDUCED PLURIPOTENT STEM CELL RESEARCH

This dissertation charts the rise and articulation of induced Pluripotent Stem Cells (iPSCs) as a prominent translational technology, invested with high expectations to finally deliver the as yet mostly unfulfilled promise of stem cell research. In a field catalyzed by the therapeutic promise, iPSCs have been adopted for widespread translational efforts, in the areas of disease modeling, drug discovery and regenerative medicine, and have progressively positioned themselves, through the mobilization of several biomedical platforms, as a key resource of stem cell-based bioeconomies. Specifically, drawing from extensive ethnographic fieldwork, this work targets distinct iPSC innovation pathways across the United States and the European Union, and conducts the analysis of distinct models of iPSC–based innovation implemented by three leading iPSC research organizations that have been spearheading translational iPSC research: the New York Stem Cell Foundation, the Harvard Stem Cell Institute, and the European Bank for induced Pluripotent Stem Cells – respectively, the largest stem cell research organization in the world; the largest private translational stem cell research institution in the United States; and one of the two flagship stem cell consortia launched in recent years at EU level. Through a comparative approach, this dissertation explores the co-productive relationship between scientific and governance innovation, and probes the distinct ways in which some of the leading research institutions in the field design and implement governance arrangements and practices of standardization in order to harness the innovation potential of iPSC-based technologies. Furthermore, it accounts for the socio-political salience of these emerging institutional configurations, and traces the assembly of distinct constituencies claiming jurisdiction in this domain of biomedicine.