Bruno J. Strasser

Assistant Professor of the History of Medicine (School of Medicine) and History

Bruno J. Strasser's research focuses on the history of the biomedical sciences in the 20th century. His book, La fabrique d'une nouvelle science: La biologie moleculaire a l'age atomique, 1945-1964 explores the emergence of molecular biology as new scientific discipline and professional identity in the atomic age. It received the Henry-E. Sigerist prize 2006. He is currently working on a new book project on collections and collectors in 20th century life sciences. He has published on the history of international scientific cooperation during the Cold War, the interactions between experimental science and clinical medicine, the transformations of the pharmaceutical industry, the development of scientific instrumentation, the role of collective memory, and the relationships between science and society.

Email: bruno.strasser@yale.edu

Education

• University of Geneva, M.S. (biology) 1996.
• Ecole Normale Supérieure Paris, visiting scholar 1998
• Max-Planck Institute for the History of Science Berlin, visiting scholar 1998-1999
• University of Paris VII / University of Geneva, PhD (history of science), 2002
• Princeton University, visiting fellow 2005-2006

Selected Publications

Books, edited volumes

1. Strasser BJ (2006) La fabrique d'une nouvelle science, La biologie moléculaire à l'âge atomique, 1945-1964, Florence: Olschki
2. Strasser BJ and Bürgi M, Eds. (2005). Science, Industry and the State in the XXth Century, special issue of the Revue Suisse d'Histoire, 55(1)
3. Strasser BJ and Chadarevian S, Eds. (2002). Molecular Biology in Post-War Europe, special issue of Studies in the History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences, 33(3).

Articles

1. Strasser BJ (2008) “Magic Bullets and Wonder Pills: Making Drugs and Diseases in the Twentieth Century”, Historical Studies in the Natural Sciences, 38, 303-312.
2. Strasser BJ  (2007) “Review of: Doel R.E., Söderqvist T., 2006, The Historiography of Science, Technology, and Medicine : Writing Recent Science, New York: Routledge”, Isis, 98(4), 867-868
3. Strasser, BJ, 2007. "How Alternative is Alternative Medicine", Nature Medicine 13 (7), 775.
4. Strasser BJ (2007), "Building Molecular Biology in Postwar Europe:  Between the Atomic Age and the American Challenge," in The Founding  of Molecular Biology in Germany: Experiences and Reflections of  Scientists from the Institute of Genetics in Cologne, edited by S.  Wenkel and U. Deichmann.  World Scientific Publishing Company, 58-65.
5. Strasser BJ, (2006). " World in One Dimension: Linus Pauling,  Francis Crick and the Central Dogma of Molecular Biology", History  and Philosophy of the Life Sciences, 28, 491-512.
6. Strasser, BJ (2006) “Collecting and Experimenting: The moral economies of biological research, 1960s-1980s.”, Preprints of the Max-Planck Institute for the History of Science, 310, p 105-123
7. Strasser BJ (2006), “Of Molecules and Men: UNESCO and the Life Sciences During the Cold War”. In: Sixty Years of Science at UNESCO 1945-2005, edited by P. Petitjean. Paris: UNESCO, p. 60-65
8. Bürgi, M. and Strasser, BJ (2006, in press) “Pharma in Transition: New Approaches to Drug Development at F. Hoffmann-La Roche & Co, 1960-1980”, Technology and Culture
9. Strasser BJ (2006, in press) “Microscopy: from Abbe to the scanning electron microscope.”, The Second Scientific Revolution, Rome, Treccani
10. Strasser, BJ et Joye, F (2005) “L'atome, l'espace et les molécules : La coopération scientifique internationale comme nouvel outil de la diplomatie helvétique (1951-1969)". Relations internationales, 121, 59-72
11. Strasser, BJ et Joye, F (2005) “Une science “neutre” dans la Guerre froide ? La Suisse et la coopération scientifique européenne (1951-1969)”. Revue Suisse d'Histoire, 55(1), 95-112
12. Strasser BJ and Bürgi M, (2005). “L'histoire des sciences, une histoire à part entiére ?” Revue Suisse d'Histoire, 55(1), 3-16
13. Strasser BJ and Dubochet, J. (2005), “Orbituary: Eduard Kellenberger (1920-2004)”, Nature, 433, 817
14. Strasser BJ (2003) “Review of: Holmes, F. L. (2001). Meselson, Stahl, and the Replication of DNA”, Isis, 94(3), 558-560
15. Strasser BJ (2003) “Who cares about the double helix ?”, Nature, 422, 803-804
16. Strasser BJ (2003) “The transformation of biological sciences in post-war Europe: EMBO and the early days of European molecular biology research”, EMBO Reports, 4(6), 540-543
17. Strasser BJ (2002) “Institutionalizing Molecular Biology in Post-War Europe: A Comparative Study”, Studies in the History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences, 33, 533-564
18. de Chadarevian S et Strasser BJ (2002). “Molecular Biology in Post-War Europe: Towards a 'Glocal' Picture” Studies in the History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences, 33, 361-365
19. Strasser BJ (2002) “Linus Pauling's 'Molecular Diseases', Between History and Memory”, Amercian Journal of Medical Genetics, 115, 83-93
20. Strasser BJ (2002) “Totems de laboratoires, microscopes électroniques et réseaux transnationaux: L'émergence de la biologie moléculaire à Genève (1945-1960)”, Revue d'Histoire des Sciences, 55(1), 5-53
21. Strasser BJ (1999) “Sickle Cell Anemia, a Molecular Disease”, Science, 286, 1488-1490