Invited Speakers: Markus Affolter (Basel, Switzerland), Brian Goodwin (Dartington, UK), James Griesemer (Davis, CA, USA), Paul Griffiths (Sydney, Australia), Mathias Gutmann (Bad-Neuenahr-Ahrweiler, Germany), Evelyn Fox Keller (Boston, MA, USA), Gerd Müller (Vienna, Austria), Eva M. Neumann-Held (Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler, Germany), Susan Oyama (New York, NY, USA), Jackie Leach Scully (Basel, Switzerland), Christoph Rehmann-Sutter (Basel, Switzerland).
Program:
Current results in molecular and developmental biology challenge traditional concepts of the gene, the genome and the organism. The picture emerging from experiment-al results in the developmental branch of molecular genetics is more and more at odds with a hierarchical, DNA-centered interpretation resulting from the classical hereditary approach. Traditional metaphors, like that of the genetic program for the development of an organism, have been objects of ideological controversy in bio-philosophy for some time. It now seems that they will have to be revised for scientific reasons. Developmental genetics may call for a more organismic and more integrated approach, and for a reassessment of nothing less than the role of DNA. There are reasons for seeking a new conceptualization of the relationships between chromosomes, developmental information and the developing organism. This interdisciplinary symposium aims at an evaluation of new theoretical approaches in this field, approaches that are directed toward an integration of genetics and developmental biology.
The questions to be discussed arise from theoretical, philosophical and ethical issues. They include: What is an organism in relation to its genes? What are genes in relation to life? What are genes in relation to DNA-protein interactions in developing cellular systems? What is the theoretical and the ontological status of the organism? What ethical impact does a transformed genetic description of organic development have?
We will start with a spotlight on the state of the art of experimental research in developmental biology. Then, some of the most promising recent suggestions for conceptual alternatives, including developmental systems approach, methodological culturalism, molecular process conception of the gene, hermeneutic theory of description and process structuralist biology will be introduced by prominent scholars. This will allow the putative far-reaching scientific, philosophical, and ethical implications to be discussed.
Registration :
Institut für Geschichte und Ethik der Medizin
Schönbeinstr. 18-20
CH-4056 Basel, Switzerland
Fax: ++41 (0)61 267 3190
Email: kamberr@ubaclu.unibas.ch
Application before Feb. 15, 1999.
Fees: SFr 160 or USD 110 (students Sfr 80 or USD 55), incl. snacks and coffee. Meals and accommodation extra.
Deadline for Abstracts: Feb. 15, 1999
Email for Requests and Registration: kamberr@ubaclu.unibas.ch