> There is also the case of Nancy Wexler, someone trained in clinical
> psychology, but who was instrumental in mapping the gene for
> Huntington's disease. Geneticists told her that she was crazy to
> look for the HD gene with RFLPs back in the early 80s. The nice
> thing about outsiders is that they are less likely to talk themselves
> out of doing an experiment.
I am familiar with this case. Mike (perhaps inadvertantly) paints a picture
of Wexler -- with absolutely no formal training -- deciding on her own that
HD was caused by a gene and then setting up a gene mapping project in her lab
and single-handedly proving her hypothesis. Nothing could be farther from
the truth.
At that time, the view that HD was caused by a gene was a prevalent but
distinctly minority view amoung molecular geneticists and clinical
psychiatrists; therefore, as a psychologist Wexler would have been aware of
that. While her own studies may have helped to convince her that the
hypothesis was correct, she did not originate the idea. Once she decided to
devote her career to finding the gene, she then sought out a genetics lab
that would teach her the theory and techniques she needed to do the proper
research. Most of the labs she applied to replied as Mike describes, but
eventually she found one that believed as she did and which was willing to
train her in exchange for her contribution to the lab's own research efforts.
Only after she had this training -- both empirical and theoretical -- did
she then have the ability to begin locating and mapping the HD gene, and that
training would not have been possible if she hadn't also found another
researcher within the molecular genetics field who believed as she did that
HD was caused by a gene.
So again we see how a "classical" case of an "outsider" making a significant
contribution in some field is not in fact true. Wexler's career as a
psychologist made her enough of an "insider" as far as mental illness was
concerned to know the relevant research that suggested that HD was caused by
a gene, and she deliberately became an "insider" as far as molecular genetics
was concerned in order to learn the skills she needed to accomplish her goal.
Had she never become interested in HD, some other "insider" would have
eventually followed his belief and mapped out the HD gene, because the
hypothesis that HD was caused by a gene was itself conceived of and proposed
by "insiders" based on their intimate knowledge of the field and their own
research experience. In other words, certain "insiders" had already decided
not to talk themselves out of doing an experiment (finding a gene for HD)
long before an "outsider" (Wexler) decided to go ahead and do it.
Kevin L. O'Brien