This Capstone project explores the social construction of science through the contradictory narrative of the SCD gene therapy CASGEVY. This contradictory narrative of CASGEVY embodies the uncertain, variable, and changing nature of the social construction of science, and highlights the role of racial politics in the field of SCD research. This project utilizes a three-pronged approach to demonstrate this social construction, and explore themes of contradiction in science. The project explores the origins of SCD gene therapy, the process of truth validation, and the environment of SCD gene therapy.
About the Author
Shivani Mohapatra is a 4th year student at UCLA majoring in Microbiology, Immunology, and Molecular Genetics, with a minor in Society and Genetics. After graduating from UCLA, she will be pursuing her Master of Public Health in Epidemiology at the University of Michigan! She is an undergraduate researcher in the Kohn Lab at UCLA, and her time there inspired her to explore gene therapy for the Capstone project.