Submitted by Jenny Molloy on Mon, 17/10/2016 - 02:35
This three-day conference on critical studies of biohacking and do-it-yourself biology (DIYbio), organized by Gabriela A. Sanchez, Sara Tocchetti and Bruno J. Strasser (University of Geneva), will take place May 10-12, 2017 at UniverCité (an innovation space in Renens, near Lausanne, Switzerland), together with a DIYbio European network meeting, May 12-13, 2017, organized by Luc Henry (Hackuarium).
The BioFabbing conference is part of the project “The Rise of the Citizen Sciences: Rethinking Science and Public Participation”, headed by Bruno J. Strasser at the University of Geneva, and focuses on bringing together individuals from the social sciences, humanities, life sciences, biohacking, DIYbio, and BioDesign to share their critical insights and perspectives about the politics, meanings, and possible futures of DIYbio. Since the emergence of the DIYbio movement more than a decade ago, DIYbio has undergone profound transformations. DIYbio laboratories have opened in the Global South, some have entered into partnerships with the pharmaceutical industry, and others have become recognized institutions for science education. The DIYbio movement has been a space of revolutionary and conservative experimentation about how to connect the life sciences and society, challenging established modes of research (particularly sharing practices), embracing (bio)technological solutions (particularly genetic engineering) to social and environmental problems, and redefining the very meaning of innovation, with potentially far-reaching consequences on research practices, research funding, and expectations about research outcomes in academia and beyond.
We invite participants to present their work on DIYbio around (but not limited to) the following themes: the politics of pharmaceutical innovation; the transformations in intellectual property rights; the refashioning of the scientist’s public image; the critical BioDesign perspective, the new voices in technofeminism, the democratization of science and citizen science; the role of DIYbio in science education; the competition/collaboration with academic biology.
We welcome proposals of all formats, from classic talks, presentation of (mixed) media, to interdisciplinary workshops, roundtables and panels. The standard time allotted for each session is 30 min with at least 10-15 min for discussion (if you need more time, please ask). Please send your proposal (single pdf file including format, authors, title, abstract up to 500 words, and any special needs) to Gabriela A. Sanchez <gabriela.sanchez@unige.ch> by November 7, 2016. Applicants will be notified shortly of the review decision.