

Sara Wylie's research focuses on the anthropology of modern biological research. In particular, Sara studies human intervention into biological systems, as in the cases of endocrine disruption and the production of model organisms in biology laboratories. Her study of endocrine disruption and model organisms concerns the impact of manmade chemicals, artificial selection, and laboratory practices on organisms and ecosystems, as well as how the structure of scientific knowledge shapes the ways scientists think about artificially produced organisms and systems. She is also interested in the U.S. biodefense program's BSL4 labs as artificial environments designed to maintain and contain infectious diseases and as sites in which political, social, and scientific order is produced.
anthropology/history of biology; endocrine disruption; synthetic chemicals in the environment