A witty tour of an innovative but marginalized effort in biomedical science, diffracted through the language of agential realism. Applying an ever-widening focus, from the lab bench and local institutional jockeying to efforts at economic development and international patent sales, Krautwurst uses this case study as a concise guide to contemporary issues in the anthropology of science. -- Sergio Sismondo, Queen's University Culturing Bioscience draws readers into thinking about how science is practiced, organized, and invested in by different kinds of actors, and introduces a wealth of concepts and authors (from Evelyn Fox Keller, Sharon Traweek, and Annemarie Mol to Hannah Landecker), all framed by Karen Barad's conception of agential realism. The text moves from analyzing lab practices and knowledge forms (including embodied, tacit knowledge forms), to the organization and dynamics of an innovatively designed biomedical research center, and on to the forces shaping the university and research writ large before ending with an exploration of science-as-means-of-development. A great text for undergraduate teaching. -- Kim Fortun, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Charting the rise and fall of an experimental biomedical facility at a North American university, Culturing Bioscience offers a fascinating glimpse into scientific culture and the social and political context in which that culture operates. Krautwurst nests the discussion of scientific culture within a series of levels from the lab to the global political economy. In the process he explores a number of topics, including: the social impact of technology; researchers' relationships with sophisticated equipment; what scientists actually do in a laboratory; what role science plays in the contemporary university; and the way bioscience interacts with local, regional, and global governments. The result is a rich case study that illustrates a host of contemporary issues in the social study of science.