Holmes, MR (2017) Changing Techniques in Crop Plant Classification: Molecularization at the National Institute of Agricultural Botany during the 1980s. Annals of Science, 74 (2). pp. 149-164. ISSN 0003-3790
Abstract
Modern methods of analysing biological materials, including protein and DNA sequencing are increasingly the objects of historical study. Yet twentieth-century taxonomic techniques have been overlooked in one of their most important contexts: agricultural botany. This paper addresses this omission by harnessing unexamined archival material from the National Institute of Agricultural Botany (NIAB), a British plant science organisation. During the 1980s the NIAB carried out three overlapping research programmes in crop identification and analysis: electrophoresis, near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) and machine vision systems. For each of these three programmes, contemporary economic, statutory and scientific factors behind their uptake by the NIAB are discussed. This approach reveals significant links between taxonomic practice at the NIAB and historical questions around agricultural research, intellectual property and scientific values. Such links are of further importance given that the techniques developed by researchers at the NIAB during the 1980s remain part of crop classification guidelines issued by international bodies today.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2017 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in Annals of Science on 16th Feb 2017, available online: http://www.tandfonline.com/10.1080/00033790.2017.1287308. |
Keywords: | Agriculture; Classification; Machine Vision; Electrophoresis; Spectroscopy; Taxonomy |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Cultures (Leeds) > School of Philosophy, Religion and History of Science (Leeds) > School of Philosophy (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 31 Jan 2017 12:51 |
Last Modified: | 16 Feb 2018 01:38 |
Published Version: | https://doi.org/10.1080/00033790.2017.1287308 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Taylor & Francis |
Identification Number: | 10.1080/00033790.2017.1287308 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:111389 |