Professor Plutynski is a historian and philosopher of biology and medicine.
Her most recent book is Explaining Cancer: Finding Order in Disorder (2018, OUP). She has also written on the history and philosophy of evolutionary biology and genetics, the role of modeling in science, and scientific explanation.
A Companion to the Philosophy of Biology (co-edited with Sahotra Sarkar) (2007, Wiley), is a collection of concise overviews of philosophical issues raised by all areas of biology.
The Routledge Handbook to Philosophy of Biodiversity (co-edited with Justin Garson and Sahotra Sarkar) (2016, Wiley) is a collection of essays by biologists, philosophers, historians and social scientists on the meaning, measurement, and value of biodiversity, as well as challenges facing conservation in practice.
Other research interests include biomedical research ethics, particularly issues surrounding precision oncology, cancer genomics, and risk communication.
Her current research is on the history of the cancer genome atlas project (TCGA) and the development of precision oncology.