| 摘要: | Research into stem cells and the biomedical potential of developing stem cell therapies are currently crucial topics in biomedicine, politics, and economics. In Taiwan, the government is pushing the development of a biotech hub, with research and development in stem cells being a niche. This initiative has partly led to the high standard of stem cell research (SCR) that is developing in Taiwan, and the government's push to expedite the approval of new cell therapies. In line with what has long been the global trend, a limited number of stem cell therapies, such as bone marrow transplants had already become standard practice in Taiwanese medical facilities before the implementation of the "Regulations Governing the Application or Use of Specific Medical Techniques or Examinations, or Medical Devices."
Despite the pressure to expand this biotech field, little is known about local stem cell scientist-educators’ (scientists who conduct research and teach classes on stem cells) perceptions of this professional field. As an emerging field with most policy-making still highly dependent on stem cell scientists as consultants (partly due to a shortage of suitable technocrats), it is important to explore scientist-educators’ perceptions outside of the formal setting of expert advisory committee meetings. Through eleven semi-structured interviews with educators working in the field of stem cell research and therapy who also teach on the subject matter, this qualitative study explores instructors’ perceptions of stem cell research, therapy, and education in Taiwan, and discusses the factors shaping instructors’ perceptions and their decisions of how and what to teach.
Themes identified from the interviews using grounded theory include: (1) awareness of and personal insights into the complexities and framings around SCR/T in Taiwan; (2) prioritizing the teaching of objective, scientific facts and the complexity of real-world applications; (3) evaluating government initiatives, and (4) IRB, ethics, and regulations in regards to doing good science. This thesis contributes to the fields of the sociology of medical science and technology, medical education, bioethics and public policy. Specifically, it adapts the concepts of boundary objects, boundary-spanning roles, boundary-work and situatedness as lenses through which to decipher how scientist-educators navigate between their perceptions of what constitutes “good science” and “meaningful ethics” in their practice of expectational/promissory capital-filled SCR/T. These concepts help make sense of the relatedness among scientist-educators’ perceptions, decisions, conduct and interactions with other boundary objects. Taken together, these findings shall be useful if consolidated and taken into consideration for future policy planning, curricular design and public outreach (efforts in the popularization of science). |
