Search

This article investigates the maintenance of sealed biological samples in the context of the French criminal justice. It extends maintenance studies to judicial objects and introduces the topic of maintenance in legal materiality studies. Our contribution to these two bodies of literature is to deepen understanding of the epistemic and material politics of maintenance in a judicial context where the issue of authenticity of objects is crucial because of their legal liability. Sealed biological samples, which are associated to a techno-judicial imaginary on cold cases, exacerbate this issue of authenticity. Once sealed, biological samples used to produce forensic DNA profiles are stored for a period of 40 years at the Central Service for the Preservation of Biological Samples – Service Central de Préservation des Prélèvements Biologiques (SCPPB), a dedicated facility, and interventions are no longer authorised on them. What then does it entail to maintain these objects which are non-manipulable, at least to some extent? What are the ‘sciences of maintenance’ mobilised and generated for this purpose, if they exist at all? This article addresses these questions, drawing on the archives of the technical committee of the Fichier National Automatisé des Empreintes Génétiques (FNAEG)—the French national forensic database used by national police—from 1998 to 2016 and on a six-hour interview with the lieutenant-colonel head of the SCPPB. It shows how sealed biological samples raise intertwined debates on their very nature and on the competences and responsibilities of genetic experts, the SCPPB and the judicial authorities on the maintenance of their technical quality and their judicial potential. It examines the knowledges and practices of maintenance of these objects, which are distributed all along the process from their manufacturing on the crime scenes to their preservation at the SCPPB. Finally, it contributes analysis of the temporality of maintenance and the objects to be maintained. By and large, this article offers reflections on the subtle ways of maintenance in the material ordering of the judicial world.

Nanomaterials are present in a wide variety of health products, drugs and medical devices and their use is constantly increasing, varying in terms of diversity and quantity. The topic is vast because it covers nanodrugs, but also excipients (that includes varying proportions of NMs) and medical devices (with intended or not-intended (by-products of wear) nanoparticles). Although researchers in the field of nanomedicines in clinical research and industry push for clearer definitions and relevant regulations, the endeavor is challenging due to the enormous diversity of NMs in use and their specific properties. In addition, regulatory hurdles and discrepancies are often cited as obstacles to the clinical development of these innovative products. The scientific council of the Agence Nationale de Sécurité du Médicament et des produits de santé (ANSM) undertook a multidisciplinary analysis encompassing fundamental, environmental and societal dimensions with the aim of identifying topics of interest for regulatory assessment and surveillance. This analysis allowed for proposing some recommendations for approximation and harmonization of international regulatory practices for the assessment of the risk/benefit balance of these products, considering as well the public expectations as regards efficacy and safety of nanomaterials used in Health products, in terms of human and environmental health.