The Obliteration of Life: Depersonalisation and Disembodiment in the Terabyte Era

Zwart, Hub

doi:10.2139/ssrn.2741259

Cited by 4 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 35 publications

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“…Traditional biomimicry (M 1 ) focusses on mimicking the whole, so that a cathedral, for instance, conveys the form, the idea (the εἶδος) of a sacred grove, capturing it in stone. But contemporary biomimicry first of all tries to capture and mimic the basic molecular circuits of living systems, the noumenal programs, the basic logic (λόγος) of life (Zwart, 2012(Zwart, , 2016. Current biomimicry reflects the shift from the molar to the molecular (M 2 ), so that contemporary biomimicry becomes micro-biomimicry.…”

Section: From Ancient To Contemporary Biomimicry: From Form To Formulamentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As a practicing, embedded philosopher, working in a Faculty of Science (surrounded by scientists and laboratories) and actively involved in the BaSyC project, it often strikes me that nature is not only studied in laboratories (in vitro), but also represented as a laboratory (Zwart, 2016;Zwart et al, 2015). In synthetic biology, nature as such emerges as an outdoors laboratory of immense complexity and proportions, where a plethora of interminable experiments are being conducted in vivo ("evolution"), while in man-made laboratories these natural experiments are continuously replicated and modified (in vitro).…”

Section: Building a Synthetic Cellmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Dialectically speaking, the first moment of the dialectical process was the desire to understand the natural, visible, living organism as a whole; that which appears to us as a recognisable gestalt, something we can meaningfully relate to (M 1 ). In order to understand this living entity, however, we increasingly focussed on the noumenal, "symbolic" structures (representable with the help of chemical, genetic or other alphabetic symbols: the "literation" of life) so that, in molecular life sciences research, the living entity eventually became increasingly obliterated (Zwart, 2016). Scientists became interested in molecules rather than in organisms, resulting in an estrangement (M 2 ) from nature as we experience it in the everyday lifeworld.…”

Section: Building a Synthetic Cellmentioning

confidence: 99%

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What is Mimicked by Biomimicry? Synthetic Cells as Exemplifications of the Threefold Biomimicry Paradox

Zwart¹

2019

Environmental Values

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This article addresses three paradoxes of biomimicry. First of all: how can biomimicry be as old as technology as such and at the same time decidedly innovative and new? Secondly: how can biomimicry both entail a 'naturalisation' of technology and a 'technification' of nature? And finally: how can biomimicry be perceived as nature-friendly but at the same time (potentially at least) as a pervasive biotechnological assault on nature? Contemporary (technoscientific) biomimicry, I will argue, aims to mimic nature at the level of biomolecular processes and structures: contemporary biomimicry as micro-biomimicry. Moreover, building on Aristotle, Delbrück and Schrödinger, I will emphasise that what is mimicked by contemporary (technoscientific) biomimicry, in contrast to traditional (artisanal) instances of biomimicry, is not the morphological form (eidos), but rather the program or formula (logos;) of living systems. Contemporary biomimicry is 'in accordance with nature', but not in the traditional sense. Rather, building on decades of biomolecular research, it strives to reconcile nature and technology against the backdrop of advanced technicity. But biomimetics will only achieve its goals if it is not pursued purely as a technological endeavour, but complemented by an ethos of sustainability and respect for nature. These claims will be elucidated with the help of two case studies: a research project (namely the BaSyC project, launched in 2017 and aimed at producing a synthetic cell) and a science novel (namely Ian McEwan's Solar, which concerns the epistemic and moral challenges involved in artificial photosynthesis).

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Section: From Ancient To Contemporary Biomimicry: From Form To Formulamentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Building a Synthetic Cellmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Building a Synthetic Cellmentioning

confidence: 99%

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What is Mimicked by Biomimicry? Synthetic Cells as Exemplifications of the Threefold Biomimicry Paradox

Zwart¹

2019

Environmental Values

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“…Thus, the visible gestalt of a tree, for instance, is made intelligible for logical animals by reducing it to chemical letters and symbols (CO 2 , H 2 O, C 6 H 10 O 5 , etc.). Via symbolisation and literation, living beings are literally obliterated (Zwart 2016 ): they disappear from view; their visual form (εἶδος) becomes eclipsed, while the focus of attention shifts to their plan or formula (λόγος). The program of the life sciences of the twentieth century can be summarised as a shift of focus from form (εἶδος) to formula (λόγος), and from the organism as a visible and tangible gestalt (εἶδος) to life as a legible code (λόγος).…”

Section: Aristotle On the Form And Formumentioning

confidence: 99%

Scientific iconoclasm and active imagination: synthetic cells as techno-scientific mandalas

Zwart

2018

Life Sci Soc Policy

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Metaphors allow us to come to terms with abstract and complex information, by comparing it to something which is structured, familiar and concrete. Although modern science is “iconoclastic”, as Gaston Bachelard phrases it (i.e. bent on replacing living entities by symbolic data: e.g. biochemical and mathematical symbols and codes), scientists are at the same time prolific producers of metaphoric images themselves. Synthetic biology is an outstanding example of a technoscientific discourse replete with metaphors, including textual metaphors such as the “Morse code” of life, the “barcode” of life and the “book” of life. This paper focuses on a different type of metaphor, however, namely on the archetypal metaphor of the mandala as a symbol of restored unity and wholeness. Notably, mandala images emerge in textual materials (papers, posters, PowerPoints, etc.) related to one of the new “frontiers” of contemporary technoscience, namely the building of a synthetic cell: a laboratory artefact that functions like a cell and is even able to replicate itself. The mandala symbol suggests that, after living systems have been successfully reduced to the elementary building blocks and barcodes of life, the time has now come to put these fragments together again. We can only claim to understand life, synthetic cell experts argue, if we are able to technically reproduce a fully functioning cell. This holistic turn towards the cell as a meaningful whole (a total work of techno-art) also requires convergence at the “subject pole”: the building of a synthetic cell as a practice of the self, representing a turn towards integration, of multiple perspectives and various forms of expertise.

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“…In this respect, there have been some notable developments since the outset of the Genomic Era, especially under the moniker of big data , which segues logically from the vastness of the human genome. Big data applies to the creation of extremely large data sets for computational analysis to generate value [ 38 ]; these data are sourced from vast, indiscriminate methods of trawling random information for patterns and opportunities. Others create data within the public commons, namely, a data repository or resource that is ‘of the people’ who voluntarily contribute.…”

Section: Giants and The Public Goodmentioning

confidence: 99%

Falling giants and the rise of gene editing: ethics, private interests and the public good

et al. 2017

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This paper considers the tensions created in genomic research by public and private for-profit ideals. Our intent is to strengthen the public good at a time when doing science is strongly motivated by market possibilities and opportunities. Focusing on the emergence of gene editing, and in particular CRISPR, we consider how commercialisation encourages hype and hope—a sense that only promise and idealism can achieve progress. At this rate, genomic research reinforces structures that promote, above all else, private interests, but that may attenuate conditions for the public good of science. In the first part, we situate genomics using the aphorism that ‘on the shoulders of giants we see farther’; these giants are infrastructures and research cultures rather than individual ‘heroes’ of science. In this respect, private initiatives are not the only pivot for successful discovery, and indeed, fascination in those could impinge upon the fundamental role of public-supported discovery. To redress these circumstances, we define the extent to which progress presupposes research strategies that are for the public good. In the second part, we use a ‘falling giant’ narrative to illustrate the risks of over-indulging for-profit initiatives. We therefore offer a counterpoint to commercialised science, using three identifiable ‘giants’—scientists, publics and cultures—to illustrate how the public good contributes to genomic discovery.

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The Obliteration of Life: Depersonalisation and Disembodiment in the Terabyte Era

Cited by 4 publications

References 35 publications

What is Mimicked by Biomimicry? Synthetic Cells as Exemplifications of the Threefold Biomimicry Paradox

What is Mimicked by Biomimicry? Synthetic Cells as Exemplifications of the Threefold Biomimicry Paradox

Scientific iconoclasm and active imagination: synthetic cells as techno-scientific mandalas

Falling giants and the rise of gene editing: ethics, private interests and the public good

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