01530nas a2200265   4500000000100000008004100001260001700042653002600059653002600085653001100111653002300122653001200145653001700157653001900174653001500193653002200208100001500230700001400245700001300259245009200272300001000364490000700374520086900381022001401250       2008                            d  c2008 Jan-Mar10aHistory, 19th Century10aHistory, 20th Century10aHumans10aLeprostatic Agents10aleprosy10aPhytotherapy10aPlant Extracts10aPlant Oils10aPlants, Medicinal1 aSantos FSD1 aSouza LPA1 aSiani AC00a[Chaulmoogra oil as scientific knowledge: the construction of a treatment for leprosy].  a29-470 v153 a<p>The article investigates how knowledge of medicinal plants and related treatment practices are assimilated and transformed. Taking as its focus the use of chaulmoogra oil to treat leprosy, it examines how information on this plant was incorporated and transformed into scientifically validated knowledge when 'Brazilian chaulmoogra' came onto the scene. Pointing to the addition of chaulmoogra byproducts to the Instituto Oswaldo Cruz's production agenda in the 1920s, the study establishes links between productive processes and relates these to the period's scientific context. From the late nineteenth century until the 1940s, chaulmoogra oil was the great hope in efforts to cure leprosy. During this period, chaulmoogric treatment earned a place as scientific knowledge thanks to research studies conducted in laboratories throughout the Western world.</p>  a0104-5970