Signs, markers, profiles, and signatures: clinical haematology meets the new genetics (1980-2000)

We propose that a fruitful way to understand the extension of molecular biology into clinical practice is through the notion of biomedical platform. In this article, we analyze the development of the new genetics in clinical haematology since the mid-1980s, focusing on two recent instantiations of the molecular biology platform: RT-PCR and DNA microarrays. We show how clinical research is more closely entwined with "fundamental" biology than is often imagined and simultaneously caution that the use of techniques in clinical research does not automatically entail their use in routine clinical practice. The article calls attention to the work of articulation and regulation as constitutive aspects of a platform that enters standard clinical use.