This current issue continues the dialogue on two thematic pillars that have recurred in past EASTS articles. The first is traditional Chinese medicine (TCM), a topic which EASTS has extensively explored before (e.g. Special Issue “The Globalisation of Chinese Medicine and Meditation Practices,” Vol. 2, Issue 4, 2008). Two research articles and one essay in this issue further this discourse, offering insightful perspectives on the globalization of TCM from three distinctive angles.
In “Chinese Medicine as Boundary Object(s): Examining TCM’s Integration into International Science Through the Case of Australian–Chinese Research Collaboration,” Brosnan et al. explore how TCM has penetrated Western bioscience despite its initial categorization as an alternative and often incompatible form of medicine. The study focuses on Australia, where TCM has been recognized as a significant area of Sino-Australian cooperation and is actively researched within mainstream scientific institutions. Through interviews with Australian scientists from a wide range of scientific fields, including computational genetics, plant biology, physiology, pharmacology, biochemistry, and Western clinical medicine, the article reveals how TCM functions as a boundary object—conceptual and material entities that facilitate communication and collaboration across diverse contexts. The researchers underscore the importance of institutional agreements and boundary actors in legitimizing TCM within the scientific community, thereby promoting cross-cultural and interdisciplinary knowledge exchange.
