27-28 September 2023
Regulating Biotech: Reimagining biology at the interface of science, technology and the market
Indian Institute of Technology Bombay
A two-day workshop at IIT Bombay
A two-day workshop at IIT Bombay
Over the last century, the biological sciences have undergone significant transformations, moving from a primarily descriptive project to one engaged in altering and manipulating living matter. A key aspect facilitating this shift is an increasing array of biotechnologies that, once deployed in-the-world, generate continuous and overlapping waves of utopian hype and dystopian disappointment. In addition, other natural and social phenomena, such as climate change and the imminent onset of the Anthropocene, have focused attention and resources towards specific spheres of industrial application - from agriculture to ecology to manufacturing through to medicine. Many argue that these rapid changes are likely to produce a new bio-normative regime that presents profound philosophical and regulatory questions around the appropriate development and deployment of these new and emergent biotechnologies – questions that demand we open up seemingly-settled ideas like sustainability, democracy, ethics, modernity, rationality, and progress for contestation.
Over the last century, the biological sciences have undergone significant transformations, moving from a primarily descriptive project to one engaged in altering and manipulating living matter. A key aspect facilitating this shift is an increasing array of biotechnologies that, once deployed in-the-world, generate continuous and overlapping waves of utopian hype and dystopian disappointment. In addition, other natural and social phenomena, such as climate change and the imminent onset of the Anthropocene, have focused attention and resources towards specific spheres of industrial application - from agriculture to ecology to manufacturing through to medicine. Many argue that these rapid changes are likely to produce a new bio-normative regime that presents profound philosophical and regulatory questions around the appropriate development and deployment of these new and emergent biotechnologies – questions that demand we open up seemingly-settled ideas like sustainability, democracy, ethics, modernity, rationality, and progress for contestation.
The workshop intends to foster a dialogue around what contemporary technoscientific reimaginings of biology entail and imply about our near and far futures and how regulatory and social institutions might evolve to meet these forthcoming challenges.
The workshop intends to foster a dialogue around what contemporary technoscientific reimaginings of biology entail and imply about our near and far futures and how regulatory and social institutions might evolve to meet these forthcoming challenges.
The Venue
The Venue
Seminar Room, Jalvihar Guest House, IIT Bombay, Mumbai
Seminar Room, Jalvihar Guest House, IIT Bombay, Mumbai
Funded by - IIT Bombay under the Seed Funding for Collaboration and Partnership Projects (SCPP) scheme
Jointly organised by:
