The Career of a Medical Discovery

Abstract

Myotonic Dystrophy is the most common form of adult muscular dystrophy and is characterized by muscle wasting and weakness. In 1991, the disease gene was cloned and sequenced by scientists in Cardiff, London, and else-where overseas. Whereas most studies of scientific breakthrough stop at the point of the "discovery," this article describes research that explored scientists' accounts of the career of that breakthrough, tracing the research within the specialty of molecular biology and the translation of the research into the service setting. Three main analytic themes are explored: the predictability of the discovery and its mediation by issues of skill and serendipity; the dialectical nature of competition and collaboration; and the career dynamics of the research group and the scientists who composed that group.