The life sciences underwent a dramatic transformation during the twentieth century, with an expansion in fundamental knowledge of the process of evolution and its molecular basis, through advances in health care that greatly extended human life, and by the combination of these advances to address the problem of conserving the many forms of life threatened by expanding human society. The essay highlights the worldwide emphasis on social welfare in the years 1945–1980 and the expanding role of international collaboration, especially in the International Biological Program and its advances in ecology and the notion of the biosphere, and in the emergence of molecular biology. This was also the era of the Cold War, yet military confrontation had fewer implications for life sciences than for the natural sciences in that era. After 1980, deregulation and neoliberalism weakened programs for social welfare, yet links among the varying strands of life sciences continued to grow, bringing the development of genomics and its many implications, expanding epidemiology to include reliance on social sciences, and deepening ecological studies as the Anthropocene became more and more prevalent. In sum, the experience of the life sciences should make it clear to world historians that scientific advance goes beyond the achievements of brilliant but isolated researchers: those same advances rely substantially on social movements, migration, and the exchange of knowledge across intellectual and physical boundaries.

中文翻译：

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生命科学，1900–2000年：从孟德尔和科赫到生物技术与保护的分析与社会福利

生命科学在二十世纪经历了巨大的变革，通过对进化过程及其分子基础的基本知识的扩展，通过极大地延长了人类生命的医疗保健进步，以及这些进步的结合，解决了这一问题。保护因扩大人类社会而受到威胁的多种形式的生命。这篇文章着重介绍了1945年至1980年期间世界范围内对社会福利的重视以及国际合作的不断扩大的作用，特别是在国际生物学计划及其在生态学和生物圈概念以及分子生物学的兴起方面的进步。这也是冷战时代，但军事对抗对生命科学的影响要小于自然科学对自然科学的影响。1980年以后，放松管制和新自由主义削弱了社会福利计划，但是生命科学各个方面之间的联系继续增长，带来了基因组学的发展及其许多影响，随着人类世的发展，流行病学的发展也扩大到包括对社会科学的依赖，并加深了生态学研究更普遍。总而言之，生命科学的经验应该使世界历史学家清楚地知道，科学的发展超越了才华横溢但孤立的研究人员的成就：这些进步很大程度上取决于社会运动，迁移以及跨知识和物质边界的知识交流。随着人类世世的盛行，带来了基因组学的发展及其许多意义，扩大了流行病学的范围，使其包括对社会科学的依赖，并加深了生态学研究。总而言之，生命科学的经验应该使世界历史学家清楚地知道，科学的发展超越了才华横溢但孤立的研究人员的成就：这些进步很大程度上取决于社会运动，迁移以及跨知识和物质边界的知识交流。随着人类世世的盛行，带来了基因组学的发展及其许多意义，扩大了流行病学的范围，使其包括对社会科学的依赖，并加深了生态学研究。总而言之，生命科学的经验应该使世界历史学家清楚地知道，科学的发展超越了才华横溢但孤立的研究人员的成就：这些进步很大程度上取决于社会运动，迁移以及跨知识和物质边界的知识交流。