Abstract By the end of the 1990s, molecular approaches predominated in biomedical science, but, for West African scientists, biology could not have ‘gone molecular’ at a worse time. Resource constraints led to knowledge expiry and many discovery dreams were terminated, exported or at least postponed. Pivotal transitions in methodologies, knowledge and resources temporally overlapped with an emergent imperative to address infectious disease in Africa. This prompted new initiatives from global health programmes in the North, which imported visions, disciplinary focus and equipment for new laboratory spaces. A handful of African researchers, however, have reimagined and reconstructed existing laboratories as a means to weave their own dreams. This article examines three such laboratories. It outlines how their equipment was accumulated, the ad hoc ways in which the laboratories are supplied and maintained, their extraordinary accomplishments and their key role as domestic nodes for research. The picture that emerges is one that extends beyond technological acquisition to an enactment of the scientists’ own dreams. Importantly, it is a record of outcomes from those who continued to dream while others stilled their imaginations or became canvases coloured by the dreams of other people.

中文翻译：

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西非分子微生物学的梦想与梦想空间

摘要 到 1990 年代末，分子方法在生物医学科学中占主导地位，但对于西非科学家来说，生物学在更糟糕的时期不可能“走向分子”。资源限制导致知识到期，许多发现梦想被终止、输出或至少推迟。方法、知识和资源的关键转变在时间上与解决非洲传染病的迫切需要重叠。这促使北方全球卫生计划采取新举措，为新的实验室空间引入愿景、学科重点和设备。然而，少数非洲研究人员重新构想并重建了现有的实验室，以此来编织他们自己的梦想。本文考察了三个这样的实验室。它概述了他们的设备是如何积累的，实验室供应和维护的特殊方式、它们的非凡成就以及它们作为国内研究节点的关键作用。出现的图景超越了技术获取，延伸到了科学家们自己梦想的实现。重要的是，它记录了那些继续做梦的人的结果，而其他人则停止了他们的想象力，或者变成了被其他人的梦想着色的画布。