%0 Journal Article
%T Biomimetic Chemistry and Synthetic Biology: A Two-way Traffic Across the Borders
%A Bernadette Bensaude-Vincent
%J Hyle : International Journal for Philosophy of Chemistry
%D 2009
%I HYLE Publications, Karlsruhe and University of Karlsruhe
%X Crossing the boundaries - between nature and artifact and between inanimate and living matter - is a major feature of the convergence between nanotechnology and biotechnology. This paper points to two symmetric ways of crossing the boundaries: chemists mimicking nature's structures and processes, and synthetic biologists mimicking synthetic chemists with biological materials. However to what extent are they symmetrical and do they converge toward a common view of life and machines? The question is addressed in a historical perspective. Both biomimetic chemistry and synthetic biology can be described as descendants of an ambitious program developed by St¨¦phane Leduc who coined the phrase 'synthetic biology' in the early twentieth century. The main intention of this genealogy is to emphasize that although making life in a test tube is a recurrent project there are subtle nuances in the underlying metaphysical assumptions. This comparison is meant to contribute to a better understanding of the cultural issues at stake in the convergence between nano and biotechnologies. It suggests that the demarcation line between life and inanimate matter remains a hot issue, and that all traffics across the borders do not proceed from the same metaphysical assumptions.
%K philosophy of chemistry
%K synthetic biology
%K nature versus artifact
%K self-assembly
%K reductionism
%K vitalism
%U http://www.hyle.org/journal/issues/15-1/bensaude.pdf