[SydPhil] HPS Research Seminar, Monday 23 March 2026 at 5.30pm

[HPS Admin]

School of History and Philosophy of Science
RESEARCH SEMINAR
[The University of Sydney]
[https://d31hzlhk6di2h5.cloudfront.net/20260315/60/a6/5b/7b/60f91a748fa25b1a8ed40063_1276x850.jpg]
Colonization Resistance and the Gut Microbiota ca 1960-1990: Persistence of an Ecological Paradigm in Medical Microbiology
Nicolas Rasmussen

Dates: Monday, 23/3/2026
Start Time: 5:30pm
Venue: Carslaw Building (F07), Level2, Lecture Theatre 275
How to register: Free, no registration required
Website: https://hps-events.sydney.edu.au/<https://url.au.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/E8TuCmO5gluAKx6v6i4HzSR5wwA?domain=t.e2ma.net>

Abstract:  In the 1950s an alarming response to technocratic medicine emerged: patients were suffering severe, often fatal gut infections as a result of antibiotic treatment. This talk describes how in the 1960s-1970s, research into the problem revealed that the indigenous microbial flora of the gut play a major role in protection from disease, and thus established one of the foundations of microbiome science.  It also relates the ideas guiding these postwar investigations to much earlier microbiological thought dating to the turn of the 20th century, and explores the relationship of this research field to the politics of the long 1960s.


Bio:Nic Rasmussen is Professor Emeritus of history of science at UNSW, and presently serving as Chief Editor of Journal of the History of Biology. His research interests include the Cold War and the rise of molecular biology, pharmaceutical development and its relationship with nonmedical drug use, and the influence of commercial sponsorship on biomedical research.  Publications have included Picture Control:  The Electron Microscope and the Transformation of Biology in America, 1940-1960 (Stanford 1997); On Speed: From Benzedrine to Adderall (NYU 2008); Gene Jockeys: Life Science and the Rise of Biotech Enterprise (Johns Hopkins, 2014); Fat in the Fifties: America’s First Obesity Crisis (Johns Hopkins 2019). He is currently working with philosopher Maureen O’Malley (Sydney University)  and historian Claas Kirchhelle (INSERM, France) on an ARC-funded historical epistemology study of the microbiome concept.

[https://images.e2ma.net/0/images/templates/spacer.gif]


[The University of Sydney]
Keep in touch
[Facebook]<https://url.au.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/gYRACnx1jniKqExnxUPI5SJKFzL?domain=t.e2ma.net>
[Twitter]<https://url.au.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/9g-uCoV1kpfBLn8k8fESzSpoe3b?domain=t.e2ma.net>
[Instagram]<https://url.au.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/m39dCp81lrtvN2y5ys3T5SGAOcv?domain=t.e2ma.net>
[LinkedIn]<https://url.au.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/qxVYCq71mwfzPQR9RCWU7SEULqo?domain=t.e2ma.net>
[YouTube]<https://url.au.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/uU4MCr81nyt10q6x6U0cNS4n4PZ?domain=t.e2ma.net>
Copyright © 2026 The University of Sydney, NSW 2006 Australia
Phone +61 2 9351 2222 ABN 15 211 513 464 CRICOS Number: 00026A

Please add hps.admin at sydney.edu.au to your address book or senders safe list to make sure you continue to see our emails in the future.

Manage<https://url.au.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/bxMCCjZ1N7i3MrAgAHnu0SmlGUk?domain=app.e2ma.net> your preferences | Opt out<https://url.au.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/7opoCk81N9tr6E4g4IkCDSGLeUA?domain=t.e2ma.net> using TrueRemove®
Got this as a forward? Sign up<https://url.au.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/ZEVIClx1NjiA5rkLkigFrSzrKwx?domain=app.e2ma.net/> to receive our future emails.
View this email online<https://url.au.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/trKmC71R2NTQxgyLyC8fnSosXxt?domain=t.e2ma.net>.

Disclaimer<https://url.au.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/OJjNCvl1rKi2j94v4urfQSQ_JgT?domain=t.e2ma.net> | Privacy statement<https://url.au.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/IbkZCwV1vMfAzjPoPiLhQSJHsKK?domain=t.e2ma.net> | University of Sydney<https://url.au.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/C8MbCxngwOf94lBZBHBi2Syo-Br?domain=t.e2ma.net>