Abstract

MESQUITA, Nyuara Araújo da Silva; OLIVEIRA NETO, José Firmino de; OLIVEIRA, Aline Prado de  and  MORAES, Christianne de Lima Borges. The double helix of DNA: history revisited in light of epistemology kuhniana. Conjectura: filos. e Educ. [online]. 2017, vol.22, n.3, pp.598-616. ISSN 2178-4612.  https://doi.org/10.18226/21784612.v22.n3.11.

The study of facts and scientific happenings is important in a sense of enabling the comprehension of the development of science in different contexts, such as in teaching environments, in distinct levels, and in research. However, the interpretation of this historic construction must take in consideration notions of science that overcome linear and neutral perspectives on the construction of the scientific production process. Under that perspective, this article proposes a re-reading of the elaboration movement of DNA’s double helix model from Thomas Kuhn’s epistemological input. It is found that this is an important context which pervades scientific up bringing and formation in the field of biological science, as well as in primary as in higher education, and that the concepts developed from the elaboration of the double helix model are pivotal for the comprehension of knowledge related to genetics, cytology, evolution and other topics. In the process of revisiting this historic moment, we have identified the theoretical clashes among researchers from various fields, the competition and the consensus as elements which mobilize the search for answers in the accomplishment of a new paradigm. In this manner, science’s dynamism proves to be present, rejecting the idea of a plain given fact and valuing the process in which knowledge is built. We propose that this is a reflection exercise, considering that revisiting the history of science from different epistemological perspectives can foster subjects new outlooks on a becoming which uncurtains concepts built in a dynamic way by men and women who, between comings and goings, give meaning to the phenomena that surround us.

Keywords : DNA; Thomas Kuhn; Normal Science; Scientific Revolution.

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