IS1001 - Bio-objects and their boundaries: governing matters at the intersection of society, politics, and science

Europe seeks to become the most dynamic knowledge-based economy of the globe, and the production and circulation of “bio-objects”, such as stem cells, chimera, tissue samples or genetically modified organisms, play a key part in this endeavour. This Action develops novel interdisciplinary tools based on a range of evidence that will improve our understanding of “bio-objects”, their production and governance. The core questions answered through this Action are: how are the boundaries between human and animal, organic and non-organic, living and the non-living opened up?; how do bio-objects change social relations?; how does the public-private interface shape the making of bio-objects?; and finally, how does the governance of bio-objects perform at different levels, from the level of the European Union and its Member States to the sub-political level, and finally in clinics and laboratories?