ABSTRACT
This chapter outlines how gendered discourses function in science by using the example of CRISPR/Cas9. Scholars have considered how discussions of CRISPR/Cas9 draw on metaphors that depict it as an editor or scalpel as well as related metaphors that depict DNA as a map, blueprint, or code. Less attention has focused on how language about CRISPR/Cas9 relies upon gendered patterns. Accordingly, this chapter uses the example of CRISPR/Cas9 to illuminate four ways gender affects how we communicate about scientific discoveries. These include (1) sexed and gendered discourses used to describe scientific processes; (2) relationships between gender and genre; (3) gendered scientific ethos; and (4) gendered factors in bioethics communication.
