Publications - Hallam Stevens

Publications in academic journals:

(2024) “Mammoths, Metabolism, and Meta-Species: Controlling Biological Time in the Regimes of Lab-Grown Protein” Gastronomica 24, no. 1: 46-53. https://doi.org/10.1525/gfc.2024.24.1.46
(2023) “Code and critique: Ted Nelson’s Project Xanadu and the Politics of New Media” Osiris 38, no. 1: 245-264. https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/epdf/10.1086/725144
(2023) [with Yvonne Ruperti] “Smart food: novel foods, food security, and the Smart Nation in Singapore” Food, culture, and society. https://doi.org/10.1080/15528014.2022.2163455
(2021) “The business machine in biology: the commercialization of AI in the life sciences” IEEE Annals of the History of Computing. [preprint version] https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/9514407/
(2021) “From RangKoM and JARING to the Internet: visions and practices of electronic networking in Malaysia, 1983-1996” Internet Histories. https://doi.org/10.1080/24701475.2021.1920126
(2021) [with Courtney Addison] “Crowdfunding conservation science: tracing the participatory dynamics of native parrot genome sequencing” Science, Technology, and Human Values. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/01622439211005021
(2021) [with Ian McGonigle and Sheila Jasanoff] “Science and technology for humanity: An STS view from Singapore” East Asian Science, Technology and Society 15: 68-78. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/18752160.2021.1877034
(2021) [with Rabindra Ratan et al.] “The (digital) medium of mobility is the message: examining the influence of e-scooter mobile app perceptions on e-scooter use intent” Computers in human behavior reports 3 (January-July). https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2451958821000245
(2021) “Algorithmic biology unleashed” in “Complicated legacies: the Human Genome at 20” Science 371, no. 6529 (5 Feb): 564-569. https://science.sciencemag.org/content/371/6529/564
(2020) [with Monamie Bhadra Haines] “Pandemic response, democracy, and technology” East Asian Science, Technology and Society. https://doi.org/10.1215/18752160-8698301
(2019) “Digital infrastructure in the Chinese register” Made in China 4, no. 2: 84-89. https://madeinchinajournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Made-in-China-02-2019.pdf
(2019) “The quotidian labour of high tech: innovation and ordinary work in Shenzhen” Science, Technology & Society, 19, no. 2. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0971721819841997
(2019) [with Payal Arora] “Data-driven models of governance across borders: datafication from the local to the global” First Monday 24, no. 4. https://doi.org/10.5210/fm.v24i4.9831
(2019) “Open data, closed government: unpacking data.gov.sg” First Monday 24, no. 4. https://doi.org/10.5210/fm.v24i4.9851
(2018) “Evidence based medicine from a social science perspective” Australian Journal of General Practice 47, no. 12. https://www1.racgp.org.au/ajgp/2018/december/evidence-based-medicine-from-a-social-science-pers
(2018) “Starting up biology in China: Performances of Life at BGI” Osiris 33, no. 1: 85-101. https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/full/10.1086/699235
(2017) “A Feeling for the Algorithm: Working Knowledge and Big Data in Biology” Osiris 32, no. 1: 151-174. http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/full/10.1086/693516
(2017) “Globalizing Genomics: The Origins of the International Nucleotide Sequence Database Collaboration” Journal of the History of Biology. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10739-017-9490-y
(2016) “Hadooping the Genome: The Impact of Big Data Tools on Biology” Biosocieties 11, no. 3 [Journal version (full text)].
(2016) [with Jenny Reardon, Rachel A. Ankeny, Jenny Bangham, Katherine W. Darling, Stephen Hilgartner, Kathryn Maxson Jones, Beth Shapiro, and The Genomic Open Workshop Group] “Bermuda 2.0: Reflections from Santa Cruz” Gigascience 5(1): 1-4. [Open access version].
(2016) “From the medical gaze to the statistical person: some historical reflections on evidence-based and ‘personalized’ medicine” Australian Family Physician 45, no. 9: 632-635.
(2015) [with Lijing Jiang] “Chinese biotech versus international ethics? Accounting for the China-America ethical divide” Biosocieties 10, no. 4: 483-488. [Journal version]
(2015) “The Politics of Sequence: Data sharing and the open source software movement” Information & Culture 50, no. 4: 465-503. [Journal version]
(2015) “Networking Biology: the Origins of Online Data Sharing in Genomics” Technology and Culture 56, no. 4: 839-867. [Journal version]
(2015) “Genetimes and Lifetimes: DNA, New Media, and History” Memory Studies 8, no. 4: 390-406 [Journal version] [Archived version]
(2012) “Dr. Sanger, Meet Mr. Moore: Next generation sequencing is driving new questions and modes of research” Bioessays 34, no. 2: 103-105.
(2011) “Coding Sequences: A History of Sequence Comparison Algorithms as a Scientific Instrument” Perspectives on Science 19.3: 263-299. [Journal version] [Post-print archived version]
(2011) “On the Means of Bio-production: Bioinformatics and How to Make Knowledge in a High-throughput Genomics Laboratory” Biosocieties 6: 217-242 [Journal version] [Post-print archived version]
(2003) “Fundamental Physics and its Justifications, 1945-1992” Historical Studies in the Physical and Biological Sciences 34(1), 151-197. [Journal version] [Archived version]

Chapters in Books:

(2025) “Science as speculation: state capitalism, real estate, and Singapore’s Jurong Town Corporation” in Greedy Science: creating knowledge, making money, and being famous in the 1980s, edited by Michael Gordin and W. Patrick McCray. Johns Hopkins University Press.
(2022) “Teleview and the aspirations of the infrastructural state in Singapore” in Infrastructure and the remaking of Asia, edited by Max Hirsh and Till Mostowlansky. University of Hawai’i Press. https://infrastructureasia.net
(2022) [with Jiahui Chan] “Computing Nanyang: information technology in a developing Singapore, 1965-85” in Abstractions and Embodiments: New Histories of Computing and Society, edited by Janet Abbate and Stephanie Dick. Johns Hopkins University Press. https://www.press.jhu.edu/books/title/12637/abstractions-and-embodiments
(2019) Transfish: the multiple origins of transgenic salmon. In: Synthetic Biology 2020: Frontiers in Risk Analysis and Governance. B.D. Trump, C. Cummings, C. Kuzma, and J. Linkov, eds. Springer. pp.51-63.
(2019) “How biotechnologies are shaping society” In: (Bio)Ethics, Science, & Society: Challenges for Biopolitics. Luso-American Development Foundation.
(2015) “Networks: Representations and Tools in Postgenomics” in Postgenomics edited volume.
(2015) [with Sarah Richardson] “Beyond the Genome” in Postgenomics edited volume.
(2015) [with Sarah Richardson] “Approaching Postgenomics” in Postgenomics edited volume.
(2013) “From Bomb to Bank: Walter Goad and the introduction of computers into biology” in Outsider Scientists: Routes to Innovation in Biology, Oren Harman and Michael Dietrich, eds. (University of Chicago Press, 2013).

Commentaries & newspaper articles:

(2024) “Elon Musk’s new job will bring tech disruption to the US government – and history says it won’t be pretty” The Conversation, 19 November. https://theconversation.com/elon-musks-new-job-will-bring-tech-disruption-to-the-us-government-and-history-says-it-wont-be-pretty-243907
(2024) “In a new manifesto, OpenAI’s Sam Altman envisions an AI utopia – and reveals glaring blindspots” The Conversation, 26 September. https://theconversation.com/in-a-new-manifesto-openais-sam-altman-envisions-an-ai-utopia-and-reveals-glaring-blind-spots-239841
(2023) “A new Silicon Valley manifesto reveals the bleak, dangerous philosophy driving the tech industry” The Conversation, 6 November. https://theconversation.com/a-new-silicon-valley-manifesto-reveals-the-bleak-dangerous-philosophy-driving-the-tech-industry-216894
(2023) “A mammoth meatball hints at the future of exotic lab-grown meats, but the reality will be far more boring, and rife with problems” The Conversation, 6 April. https://theconversation.com/a-mammoth-meatball-hints-at-a-future-of-exotic-lab-grown-meats-but-the-reality-will-be-far-more-boring-and-rife-with-problems-203243; Replished as “A mammoth meatball hints at the future of exotic lab-grown meats” Salon, 11 April. https://www.salon.com/2023/04/11/a-mammoth-meatball-hints-at-a-future-of-exotic-lab-grown-meats_partner/ ; Republished in German as “Zwar gibt es schon jetzt Mammut-Fleischbällen – doch die Zukunft des Laborfleischs dürfte langweiliger sein” 1E9 magazine, 22 April. Zwar gibt es schon jetzt Mammut-Fleischbällchen – doch die Zukunft des Laborfleischs dürfte langweiliger sein – Magazin / Nur für Mitglieder – 1E9
(2022) “Who really invented the thumb drive?” IEEE Spectrum, 10 December. https://spectrum.ieee.org/thumb-drive
(2022) “When to stop learning from Singapore – data, surveillance, and Australian business” New Mandala 3 November. https://www.newmandala.org/when-to-stop-learning-from-singapore-data-surveillance-and-australian-business/ Also published as “When to stop learning from Singapore – an Australian perspective” Academia.SG, 3 November. https://www.academia.sg/academic-views/singapore-surveillance-tech/
(2021) [with Manoj Harjani] “Habiter une ville <<datafiee>>” Analyse Opinion Critique https://aoc.media/analyse/2021/11/29/habiter-une-ville-datafiee/
(2021) [with Ignacio Polo] “BRI as a set of technological platforms” Invited blogpost for Transformations: downstream effects of the BRI. https://munkschool.utoronto.ca/beltandroad/blog/
(2021) [with Daniel Vale] “Goodness, smartness, and the postcolonial state: AI in Singapore” Blogpost for: A new AI Lexicon: Smart. https://medium.com/a-new-ai-lexicon/a-new-ai-lexicon-smart-b6be6d38bace
(2021) [with Yvonne Ruperti] “Lab grown meat is on the rise: it’s time to start asking tough questions” The Guardian, 17 June. https://www.theguardian.com/food/2021/jun/17/lab-grown-meat-no-kill-food
(2021) [with Bonnie Mak] “The Campus after COVID-19” Public Seminar, 4 March. https://publicseminar.org/essays/the-campus-after-covid-19/
(2020) “Does the take-up of Singapore’s TraceTogether really show increased trust in the government?” South China Morning Post, 31st December. https://www.scmp.com/week-asia/opinion/article/3115863/does-take-singapores-tracetogether-really-show-increased-trust
(2020) [with Monamie Bhadra Haines] “Governed by tech: citizens and the making of the Smart Nation” AcademiaSG, 14th October. https://www.academia.sg/academic-views/governed-by-tech-citizens-and-the-making-of-the-smart-nation/
(2020) [with Monamie Bhadra Haines] “Wearables and privacy” AcademiaSG, 16th June. https://www.academia.sg/academic-views/wearables-and-privacy/
(2020) [with Monamie Bhadra Haines] “Does Singapore need mandatory contact-tracing apps?” New Mandala, 18 May. https://www.newmandala.org/does-singapore-need-mandatory-contact-tracing-apps/ (co-published with AcademiaSG https://www.academia.sg/academic-views/does-singapore-need-mandatory-contact-tracing-apps/).
(2020) “TraceTogether: Learning who to trust in a pandemic” New Naratif, 11th May. https://newnaratif.com/journalism/tracetogether-learning-who-to-trust-in-a-pandemic/share/nyyrjryyla/7d16ac3d10e461a6a210ce1ec90ced0b/
(2018) “China’s win-at-all-costs approach suggests it will follow it’s own dangerous path in biomedicine” The Conversation, 17th December. https://theconversation.com/chinas-win-at-all-costs-approach-suggests-it-will-follow-its-own-dangerous-path-in-biomedicine-108658
(2018) “Weeding our algorithmic gardens” Public Books (7 August). http://www.publicbooks.org/weeding-our-algorithmic-gardens/
(2018) “Commentary: Many may be forgotten if data drives public policy” Channel News Asia, 22nd July. https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/commentary/many-may-be-forgotten-if-public-policy-is-primarily-data-driven-10527460
(2018) “Commentary: A While More Before Robots and Artificial Intelligence Run Our Lives For Us” Channel News Asia, 13 June. https://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/commentary/robots-artificial-intelligence-transform-lives-how-long-more-10291218
(2018) “Hans Peter Luhn and the Birth of the Hashing Algorithm” IEEE Spectrum (30 January). https://spectrum.ieee.org/tech-history/silicon-revolution/hans-peter-luhn-and-the-birth-of-the-hashing-algorithm

Preprints, Reports, and Open Access works:

(2022) “Soy sauce and industrial food production in Singapore” Berita 48, no. 1: 46-48.
(2019) “Beyond STEM: STS as a complementary approach” In: STEM Education: An Overview. The Head Foundation Workshop Report No. 7. pp. 21-26.
(2017) “Science in the City: Managing Space and Innovation in Singapore’s Fusionopolis” Open Science Framework / SocArXiv https://osf.io/5f673/

Publications in the Natural Sciences:

Laura Gonzalez, Jaehong Park, Lihua Zou, Yanhui Hu, Zahra Moradpour, Joseph Pearlberg, Jacqui Sawyer, Hallam Stevens, Ed Harlow, Joshua LaBaer (2011) “High Throughput Ectopic Expression Screen for Tamoxifen Resistance Identifies an Atypical Kinase that Blocks Autophagy” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 108(5): 2058-2063 [Journal] [Full text]
Hallam Stevens, Robert F. Considine, Calum J. Drummond, Robert A. Hayes, and Phil Attard (2005) “Effects of Degassing on the Long-Range Attractive Force Between Hydrophobic Surfaces in Water” Langmuir 21, 6399-6405. [Journal] [Archived]

Book Reviews:

(2024) “Miguel García-Sancho and James Lowe, A History of Genomics Across Species, Communities, and Projects, London: Palgrave Macmillan, 2023, ISBN: 9783031061295, 380 pp.” Journal of the History of Biology. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10739-024-09764-w
(2021) “Colin Koopman: How we became our data: a genealogy of the informational person” American Historical Review [6 August 2021] https://doi.org/10.1093/ahr/rhab205
(2020) “Imperial environments” Biosocieties 15: 470-499. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1057/s41292-020-00199-0#Sec44
(2020) Review of: Bronwyn Parry and Beth Greenhough. Bioinformation (Polity). Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute 26: 188-189.
(2016) Review of: Christine L. Borgman. Big Data, Little Data, No Data: Scholarship in the Networked World (MIT Press, 2015). Technology and Culture.
(2016) “Seeing Data” [Essay Review] Historical Studies in the Natural Sciences 46, no. 2 (April): 252-259.
(2015) Review of: Aaron Panofsky. Misbehaving science: Controversy and the Development of Behavior Genetics (University of Chicago Press, 2014). Journal of the History of Biology 48: 353-355.
(2014) Review of: Angela Creager. Life Atomic: A History of Radioisotopes in Science and Medicine. (Chicago University Press, 2013). Journal of the History of Biology 47: 177-179.
(2013) Review of: Miguel Garcia-Sancho (2013) Biology, Computing, and the History of Molecular Sequencing: From Proteins to DNA, 1945-2000 (Palgrave Macmillan, 2013), Social History of Medicine (Published online 14 Jan 2013).
(2011) Review of: Joseph November. Biomedical Computing: Digitizing Life in the United States (Johns Hopkins University Press). Isis 104, no. 1 (2011): 186-187.