Doing Gener in Brazilian Biology: Obstacles and Prejudices on Knowledge Production within the FAFESP Genome Proyect

Abstract

This article aims to analyse the participation of women scientist in knowledge production within the Genome Project sponsored by FAPESP (The State of São Paulo Research Foundation). Between 1997 and 2003, FAPESP invested approximately 33 million euros to develop the FAPESP Genome Project (PGF), generating major changes in Molecular Biology in Brazil: institutions devoted to fostering science and technology have been investing large sum of money; bioinformatics became one of the fields with great demand for professionals, and the results of the Xylella Genome Project, first organism sequenced in Brazil, were published in several international scientific journals including Nature, and Brazil became the first country to develop genome projects outside USA, Europe and Japan. As a consequence of this process, women scientists were loosing space as “spokespersons of this new science”, playing secondary roles at the project.