Attuning to the deep. On the opportunities of thinking with art for an ethics of the deep sea

Seabed mining, the extraction of minerals from the deep-sea floor, is hotly contested. Policymakers have agreed on the need for a regulatory framework. However, traditional ethical theories and principles are not well equipped for the ethics of the alien deep sea. Engaging with the sea means engaging with something abstract that we can only access indirectly. We argue that this invisibility and alienness of the sea and its inhabitants can give new insights into how ethics are done. Rather than getting even more grip on what is already directly known, considering what is outside our usual moral view may be just as valuable. To do so, art can help us think with these unknown and invisible parts of the ecosystem. For that, we describe three cases. The scientist and artist Eugen Ransonnet engaged with the underwater world in the late 19th century. The Victorian flower painter Marianne North's unruly approach greatly influenced the botanic discourse until today. And finally, Christina Stadlbauer's Institute for the Relocation of Biodiversity and her work with the mollusk Pinna Nobilis in Mar Menor, Spain. We describe the Pinna Nobilis video project and the ethical and political opportunities it opens. We propose that engaging with the arts can pave the way towards including the unknown in ethical reflection and, at the same time, how it can rephrase questions that can help us reconsider what is outside of our moral view

Transgenic expression of the HERV-W envelope protein leads to polarized glial cell populations and a neurodegenerative environment.

The human endogenous retrovirus type W (HERV-W) has been identified and repeatedly confirmed as human-specific pathogenic entity affecting many cell types in multiple sclerosis (MS). Our recent contributions revealed the encoded envelope (ENV) protein to disturb myelin repair by interfering with oligodendroglial precursor differentiation and by polarizing microglial cells toward an axon-damage phenotype. Indirect proof of ENV's antiregenerative and degenerative activities has been gathered recently in clinical trials using a neutralizing anti-ENV therapeutic antibody. Yet direct proof of its mode of action can only be presented here based on transgenic ENV expression in mice. Upon demyelination, we observed myelin repair deficits, neurotoxic microglia and astroglia, and increased axon degeneration. Experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis activity progressed faster in mutant mice equally accompanied by activated glial cells. This study therefore provides direct evidence on HERV-W ENV's contribution to the overall negative impact of this activated viral entity in MS

Radiation therapy effects on white matter fiber tracts of the limbic circuit

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/134834/1/mp5560.pd

Exploring the potential of fungal biomaterials via cocultivation strategies

The urgent transition to a more sustainable and biobased economy drives the growing interest in (mycelium) biomaterials which can grow with minimal energy from various feedstocks and are fully biodegradable. Despite the worldwide emergence of startup companies, real-world applications are limited, and a market breakthrough has not occurred yet, partially due to a lack of scientific insights. This project aims to build a fundamental knowledge platform focusing on the interplay between feedstock types, fermentation process parameters, and biological and material characteristics. Further, the project expands the portfolio of material types (including engineered materials) via cocultivation strategies. Finally, this project also explores and evaluates the bioethical implications of biomaterial applications in our daily lives. This multifaceted and interdisciplinary project offers a new way to interface academia with society and opens the public debate about the application of biomaterials

BactoHealing : a novel interpretation of the concept of healing by interweaving science, philosophy and art

BactoHealing is an interdisciplinary research project which draws on ‘Kin Tsugi’, an ancient Ja- panese technique to fix ceramics with gold or silver. Remarkable for this transformative repair technique is that it aestheticizes the traces of the cracks and the repair or healing process itself. With our project BactoHealing we propose to mend cracks with the help of microorganisms: Bac- teria and fungi are engineered for the task of growing a solid bond that mimics “scar tissue” over the fracture. The investigation is a multidisciplinary hands-on quest for applied science (i.e. Engi- neering of an adhesive or a scar tissue) and simultaneously opens an inquiry around the ethics of cutting-edge synthetic biology (i.e.Sustainable lab practices / deciding over microorganisms’ ma- nipulation or death at any given moment) and the meaning and possibilities of healing processes (i.e. What can we learn from microorganisms about healing?). In this presentation, I focus on the importance of including philosophical considerations in the de- velopment of a scientific investigation. This is not a self-evident practice and demands for a trans- disciplinary approach. In the project, the ethics is not an afterthought nor a side note: As Bacto- Healing works with the ethics of recovery and healing, it is significant that we ask how to include bioethics as part of the scientific methodology itself. Instead of results, the focus of my presenta- tion lies on the unfolding of a work in progress and the process of generating new knowledge and creating artworks linked with science

Toevallige ontmoetingen: Bio-ethiek voor een gehavende planeet (PDF)

In dit rigoureuze en noodzakelijke boek brengt Kristien Hens bio-ethiek en filosofie van de biologie bij elkaar, met het argument dat het ethisch noodzakelijk is om in het wetenschappelijk onderzoek een plaatsje vrij te houden voor de filosofen. Hun rol is behalve ethisch ook conceptueel: zij kunnen de kwaliteit en de coherentie van het wetenschappelijk onderzoek verbeteren door erop toe te zien dat specifieke concepten op een consistente en doordachte manier worden gebruik binnen interdisciplinaire projecten. Hens argumenteert dat toeval en onzekerheid een centrale rol spelen in de bio-ethiek, maar dat die in een spanningsrelatie kunnen raken met de pogingen om bepaalde theorieën ingang te doen vinden als wetenschappelijke kennis: bij het beschrijven van organismen en praktijken creëren we op een bepaalde manier de wereld. Hens stelt dat dit noodzakelijk een ethische activiteit betreft. Doorheen de verkenning van genetisch onderzoek, biomedische ethiek, autismeonderzoek en het concept ‘risico’ toont Hens aan dat er niet zoiets bestaat als ‘universeel’ of ‘neutraal’ wetenschappelijk of klinisch weten. Integendeel, uitgaan van de gesitueerdheid van individuele ervaringen is essentieel om de wereld rondom ons te begrijpen, om er de beperkingen van in te zien (en die van onszelf) en om een ethische toekomst vorm te geven. Toevallige ontmoetingen is gericht op een breed publiek van geïnteresseerden in bio-ethiek, filosofie, antropologie en sociologie, en op onderzoekers in biomedische en milieuwetenschappen. Daarnaast is het ook relevant voor beleidsmakers. De artistieke bijdrage van Christina Stadlbauer en Bartaku zal inspirerend zijn voor kunstenaars en schrijvers die zich op het snijvlak bewegen van kunst en wetenschappen

Toevallige ontmoetingen: Bio-ethiek voor een gehavende planeet (XML)

In dit rigoureuze en noodzakelijke boek brengt Kristien Hens bio-ethiek en filosofie van de biologie bij elkaar, met het argument dat het ethisch noodzakelijk is om in het wetenschappelijk onderzoek een plaatsje vrij te houden voor de filosofen. Hun rol is behalve ethisch ook conceptueel: zij kunnen de kwaliteit en de coherentie van het wetenschappelijk onderzoek verbeteren door erop toe te zien dat specifieke concepten op een consistente en doordachte manier worden gebruik binnen interdisciplinaire projecten. Hens argumenteert dat toeval en onzekerheid een centrale rol spelen in de bio-ethiek, maar dat die in een spanningsrelatie kunnen raken met de pogingen om bepaalde theorieën ingang te doen vinden als wetenschappelijke kennis: bij het beschrijven van organismen en praktijken creëren we op een bepaalde manier de wereld. Hens stelt dat dit noodzakelijk een ethische activiteit betreft. Doorheen de verkenning van genetisch onderzoek, biomedische ethiek, autismeonderzoek en het concept ‘risico’ toont Hens aan dat er niet zoiets bestaat als ‘universeel’ of ‘neutraal’ wetenschappelijk of klinisch weten. Integendeel, uitgaan van de gesitueerdheid van individuele ervaringen is essentieel om de wereld rondom ons te begrijpen, om er de beperkingen van in te zien (en die van onszelf) en om een ethische toekomst vorm te geven. Toevallige ontmoetingen is gericht op een breed publiek van geïnteresseerden in bio-ethiek, filosofie, antropologie en sociologie, en op onderzoekers in biomedische en milieuwetenschappen. Daarnaast is het ook relevant voor beleidsmakers. De artistieke bijdrage van Christina Stadlbauer en Bartaku zal inspirerend zijn voor kunstenaars en schrijvers die zich op het snijvlak bewegen van kunst en wetenschappen

Chance Encounters: A Bioethics for a Damaged Planet (PDF)

In this rigorous and necessary book, Kristien Hens brings together bioethics and the philosophy of biology to argue that it is ethically necessary for scientific research to include a place for the philosopher. As well as ethical, their role is conceptual: they can improve the quality and coherence of scientific research by ensuring that particular concepts are used consistently and thoughtfully across interdisciplinary projects. Hens argues that chance and uncertainty play a central part in bioethics, but that these qualities can be in tension with the attempt to establish a given theory as scientific knowledge: in describing organisms and practices, in a sense we create the world. Hens contends that this is necessarily an ethical activity. Examining genetic research, biomedical ethics, autism research and the concept of risk, Hens illustrates that there is no ‘universal’ or ‘neutral’ state of scientific and clinical knowledge, and that attending to the situatedness of individual experience is essential to understand the world around us, to know its (and our) limitations, and to forge an ethical future. Chance Encounters is aimed at a broad audience of researchers in bioethics, philosophy, anthropology, sociology, as well as biomedical and environmental scientists. It will also be relevant to policymakers, and the artwork by Christina Stadlbauer and Bartaku will be of interest to artists and writers working at the intersection of art and science

Chance Encounters: A Bioethics for a Damaged Planet (XML)

In this rigorous and necessary book, Kristien Hens brings together bioethics and the philosophy of biology to argue that it is ethically necessary for scientific research to include a place for the philosopher. As well as ethical, their role is conceptual: they can improve the quality and coherence of scientific research by ensuring that particular concepts are used consistently and thoughtfully across interdisciplinary projects. Hens argues that chance and uncertainty play a central part in bioethics, but that these qualities can be in tension with the attempt to establish a given theory as scientific knowledge: in describing organisms and practices, in a sense we create the world. Hens contends that this is necessarily an ethical activity. Examining genetic research, biomedical ethics, autism research and the concept of risk, Hens illustrates that there is no ‘universal’ or ‘neutral’ state of scientific and clinical knowledge, and that attending to the situatedness of individual experience is essential to understand the world around us, to know its (and our) limitations, and to forge an ethical future. Chance Encounters is aimed at a broad audience of researchers in bioethics, philosophy, anthropology, sociology, as well as biomedical and environmental scientists. It will also be relevant to policymakers, and the artwork by Christina Stadlbauer and Bartaku will be of interest to artists and writers working at the intersection of art and science