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05/25/2016 - 05/25/2016 | Berlin

25.05.2016 18:00 The Future of Life is Synthetic: The Promises of Xenobiology

Xenobiologists want to create artificial life built out of synthetic chemicals instead of naturally occurring DNA. Such new biologies promise groundbreaking solutions for pressing global problems, but they might change how we think about life and evolution.
Our panel will bring together renowned experts from the life sciences and philosophy to explore the newest frontier of humanly-created life.

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.

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

Information on participating / attending:
Entrance free.
Please register under jahresthema@bbaw.de.

Date:

05/25/2016 18:00 - 05/25/2016

Event venue:

Akademiegebäude am Gendarmenmarkt (Leibniz-Saal)
Markgrafenstraße 38
10117 Berlin
Berlin
Germany

Target group:

all interested persons

Email address:

Relevance:

transregional, national

Subject areas:

Biology, Chemistry, Medicine, Philosophy / ethics, Social studies

Types of events:

Seminar / workshop / discussion

Entry:

05/09/2016

Sender/author:

Gisela Lerch

Department:

Presse- und Öffentlichkeitsarbeit

Event is free:

yes

Language of the text:

English

URL of this event: http://idw-online.de/en/event54240


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