Thesis defense Lindzy Tossé

The last three decades witness massive creation of population DNA banks presented as an essential tool for biology and health research. This thesis uses Science, Technology and health Studies in society (STS) approach, including participant ethnographic observations, open-ended and semi-structured interviews as well as documentary analysis, in order to study why and how a regional French health and research institute constituted a DNA biobank (PREGO) of 5,000 healthy blood donors from western France in 2013.

Historical studies trace circulations and the stabilization of knowledge, practices, and resources between clinic, laboratory and the region. It shows that disciplines like genetics, spatial genetic epidemiology, and geography, and funding and support strategies built upon regional institutions play the role of operators which anchor the institute in the region.

Sociological studies reveal that the biobank’s design and the success of its creation depend on the scientific criteria used for selecting participants, but also on the funding type, the material and practical contingencies specific to the rural and suburban blood donation mobile campaigns of the French blood agency (EFS) and the donors’ triage. Altruism and trust in public institutions count in the decision-making process of blood donors.

Epistemological studies focus on the development of biomedical processes involving the molecularization of diagnosis of local diseases and the fabrication of local populations. Through the transformation of these epistemic things into technical objects, the institute gained competencies that enabled it to have influence in the making of genomic medicine at national level.