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Artificial, All Too Natural: Synthetic Biology and Transhumanism in the Post-Genomic Era  

Woo, Taemin (KAIST 과학기술정책대학원)
Park, Buhm Soon (KAIST 과학기술정책대학원)
Publication Information
Journal of Science and Technology Studies / v.16, no.2, 2016 , pp. 33-63 More about this Journal
Abstract
This paper compares and contrasts the concept of nature and the theory of evolution held by leading synthetic biologists and transhumanists in the post-genomic era. Synthetic biology, which emerged in the early 2000s, aims to design biological systems that perform specific functions with the two key concepts of "rational design" and "directed evolution". However, synthetic biology has also raised serious concerns about the creation of man-made biological materials and the manipulation of the direction and speed of evolution. It is no wonder that transhumanists, who dream of creating new, enhanced human species, have welcomed the arrival of synthetic biology. How, then, can we deal with the nature reinvented by synthetic biology? By what means can one justify research that may affect the process of evolution? What intellectual resources do synthetic biology and transhumanism share in common? What influence would the new trend of commercialization of science and technology exert upon the development of synthetic biology? Addressing those questions, this paper argues that the moral authority of nature can be restored in this post-genomic era.
Keywords
synthetic biology; transhumanism; rational design; directedevolution; human enhancement; evolutionary optimality; moral authority of nature;
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Times Cited By KSCI : 1  (Citation Analysis)
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