Pablo Schyfter Dr, Lecturer - University of Edinburgh |
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02.07.2018-24.07.2018
Synthetic Biology: Designs on Life
The emerging field of synthetic biology promises to engineer the living world. This is potentially extremely contentious, so scholars from the social sciences and humanities have been enrolled into synthetic biology research programmes from the outset. The distinctive contribution of the broader Engineering Life project has been to study both the engineering of biology, and the role of social scientists within this. Its two core objectives are (i) to investigate the movement of ideas, practices and promises from engineering into the life sciences, and (ii) to examine the ways in which social scientists, humanists and other groups (including artists and designers) are being mobilised as part of this endeavour.
Engineering is a field that has been relatively neglected by science & technology studies, and the engineering of biology even more so. Our project is providing insights into the engineering imagination, how it is being applied to living things, and how it is being challenged and expanded in interdisciplinary interactions. Our planned monograph contributes to both of the Engineering Life project objectives. First, it will provide a critical, empirically grounded analysis of a field that is currently the target of high levels of investment across Europe and the globe. Second, it will offer lessons for the funding and organization of collaborations between the social sciences, the humanities, science, and engineering, and it will contribute to pressing debates about theories and methods of engagement in science & technology studies.