Ghosts in the shell: an anthropological investigation on DIYbio and the Cyborg

• Grant number: 16/20106-6
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Start date: January 01, 2017
• End date: December 31, 2019
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Anthropology - Theory of Anthropology
• Agreement: Coordination of Improvement of Higher Education Personnel (CAPES)
• Principal Investigator: Marko Synésio Alves Monteiro
• Grantee: Gil Vicente Nagai Lourencao
• Host Institution: Instituto de Geociências (IG). Universidade Estadual de Campinas (UNICAMP). Campinas , SP, Brazil
• Associated scholarship(s): 18/06952-7 - Ghosts in the Shell: an anthropological investigation on DIYbio and the Cyborg, BE.EP.PD

Abstract

The project aims to equate the scientific and political problem of practices known as DIYbio or do it yourself Biology. The subject matter is a part of the anthropology of science´s branch, made possible through studies on rehabilitation of spinal cord injured, and users of mechanical and robotic prostheses, where a theory about cybernetic organisms was built. The theme is the theory and practice of cybernetics regarding to DIYbio and not the injury itself, where I propose an investigation about a problem that is placed within this scientific practice, which seems to arise a question on the place usually needed to achieve 'science' and a cyber application to the human body, i.e., the triad given between the State, the Capital, and the University, through the object DIYbio. This research will be done through an anthropological fieldwork in laboratories, events, and literature review, through monitoring DIYbio processes in Brazil and in Japan. (AU)