As well-documented in the history of biology, organisms have been used as experimental systems or even models to study a range of phenomena. This session goes beyond existing accounts to explore how various practices, data, and standards associated with use of many organisms have been articulated, negotiated, and evolved, using a series of contemporary case studies based in a variety of locales. The first paper examines neglected issues associated with the emergence of ethical standards for animal research in Australia, exploring the changing use of key concepts to excavate the influences of other Anglophone systems. The second paper utilizes novel visualization techniques to examine broader and local trends in organism use in developmental biology in the 1950s-1960s, thus permitting closer attention to contingencies that underlie continuities in organismal choice and to identify and investigate changes in biologists’ practices. The third paper analyzes challenges related to devising methods for sharing crop phenomic data across different international locations, including high-resourced and low-resourced research environments and different types of sites such as laboratories, experimental farms, and plant stations. The final paper investigates how non-standardized animals have come to be key experimental organisms for studying influenza, and how diverse global communities have articulated and negotiated experimental standards for working with them and making findings applicable to humans. A commentary from a biologist with extensive publications in history/philosophy of science will both deepen these historic reflections and promote dialogue between the papers.
