Ambivalences of Creating Life: Societal and Philosophical Dimensions of Synthetic Biology

Front Matter....Pages i-xvii
Editorial: Ambivalences in Societal and Philosophical Dimensions of Synthetic Biology....Pages 1-8
The Synthetic Nature of Biology....Pages 9-53
Making-of Synthetic Biology: The European CyanoFactory Research Consortium....Pages 55-72
Synthetic Biology for Space Exploration: Promises and Societal Implications....Pages 73-100
“First Species Whose Parent Is a Computer”—Synthetic Biology as Technoscience, Colonizing Futures, and the Problem of the Digital....Pages 101-113
“Some Kind of Genetic Engineering… Only One Step Further”—Public Perceptions of Synthetic Biology in Austria....Pages 115-140
Synthetic Biology in the Press....Pages 141-156
Let’s Talk About… Synthetic Biology—Emerging Technologies and the Public....Pages 157-175
Public Engagement in Synthetic Biology: “Experts”, “Diplomats” and the Creativity of “Idiots”....Pages 177-197
Early Engagement with Synthetic Biology in the Netherlands—Initiatives by the Rathenau Instituut....Pages 199-213
A Critical Participatory Approach to the Evaluation of Synthetic Biology....Pages 215-241
Synthetic Biology—Playing Games?....Pages 243-250
Metaphors of Life: Reflections on Metaphors in the Debate on Synthetic Biology....Pages 251-265
Debasement of Life? A Critical Review of Some Conceptual and Ethical Objections to Synthetic Biology....Pages 267-274
Engineers of Life? A Critical Examination of the Concept of Life in the Debate on Synthetic Biology....Pages 275-292
Synthetic Biology and the Argument from Continuity with Established Technologies....Pages 293-311
Synthetic Biology Between Engineering and Natural Science. A Hermeneutic Methodology for Laboratory Research Practice....Pages 313-323
Epistemological Implications of Synthetic Biology: A Heideggerian Perspective....Pages 325-335