#CRISPRfacts, Gene Editing, and Joking in the Twittersphere

Lowthorp, Leah

doi:10.5406/jamerfolk.131.522.0482

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Research Article| October 01 2018

#CRISPRfacts, Gene Editing, and Joking in the Twittersphere

Leah Lowthorp

Leah Lowthorp is Assistant Professor of Anthropology and Folklore at the University of Oregon. Her research focuses on online narratives of genetic and assisted reproductive technologies, as well as UNESCO intangible cultural heritage in India. She has taught in the folklore programs at the University of Pennsylvania and Harvard University and is a regular contributor to Biopolitical Times.

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Journal of American Folklore (2018) 131 (522): 482–492.

https://doi.org/10.5406/jamerfolk.131.522.0482

Abstract

Digital folklore offers unique insight into how the wider public is grappling with complex scientific developments in the world today. This paper explores the relationship between scientific hyperbole and public skepticism of scientific claims in an age of fake news, in an examination of a joke cycle, #CRISPRfacts, that emerged on Twitter in response to hype about the new gene-editing tool CRISPR-Cas9.

AFS ETHNOGRAPHIC THESAURUS:, Science, humor, satire, digital media, performance, social media, Twitter

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2018

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#CRISPRfacts, Gene Editing, and Joking in the Twittersphere

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