Communities of Molecular Storytelling: Libraries, Journal Clubs, and Seminars in the Making of Modern Epigenetics

“I can date very precisely the moment when I conceived the idea of maintenance methylation and its use to remember patterns of DNA modification and control gene expression” wrote John Pugh, a ‘father’ of modern epigenetics, in a letter: ”This was on 14 March 1973 at 5.20 pm in the seminar room at NIMR.” Histories of science have long dispensed with the notion of a solitary genius, showing the importance of work in a couples and laboratory teams. Expensive pieces of equipment in ‘big science’ fostered novel forms of labour organization and new communities. But what of those tools somewhere in-between – and in particular those less tangible and ephemeral? Using the case of early history of epigenetics (between 1970-1975) and drawing on the interviews with its founders, Arthur Riggs in California and John Pugh in London, I bring to light the invisible web of tools that sustained research communities: journal clubs and seminars. Often without a fixed location, they consisted of not much more than chairs, a slide projector and a pot of tea with biscuits; required no skills beyond reading, listening, conversing, storytelling. I examine the work and care invested into building and maintaining these tools, rules that guided them, and the ways in which they interacted with other places of research, in particular laboratory. By giving these ‘communities of storytelling’ their place in history, this talk will stress the need to approach scientific innovation through the lens of sharing rather than competition and priority disputes.