Tremendous technical advances have been made in the life sciences in recent years. Scientists are now able to alter and analyze genes with an ease never seen before. Whole genomes can be built from scratch and transplanted into living cells. But has this brought us any closer to understanding life?
Synthetic biology in particular has been heralded as an exciting new field which will allow a deeper knowledge on how living systems "work". Synthetic biologists extensively manipulate organisms at DNA level. Even bringing longlost species such as the wooly mammoth back to life from recovered DNA samples seems possible nowadays. Xenobiologists reach further yet – aiming to create artificial life built out of synthetic chemicals instead of natural DNA.
Such new biologies promise groundbreaking solutions for pressing global problems. However, these possibilities have raised concern about their future environmental and societal impact, and how they might change the way we think about life, biodiversity and evolution. Our interdisciplinary panel will bring together renowned experts from xenobiology and the philosophy of the life sciences to explore these and other matters of humanly-created life.
Registration is required: www2.bbaw.de/xb2
Introduction
Bernd Müller-Röber
University of Potsdam
Member of the BBAW
Panel Discussion
Philippe Marlière
Scientist of Fortune S.a., Luxembourg
Philipp Holliger
MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Cambridge UK
Heiner Fangerau
Heinrich Heine University, Düsseldorf
Markus Schmidt
Biofaction, Vienna, Austria
Moderated by
Kai Kupferschmidt
Science journalist
The event is funded by the Schering foundation.