Bodies As Libraries of Bioparts/ Sociology of the Body Meets Life Engineering

Human bodies are treated at the level of molecules, genes, DNA, and cells in the current biotechnological context. The focus of life science research has shifted from genome description, DNA mapping, and DNA sequencing to active and profound reprogramming, making synthetic life on the genetic and molecular levels. At the same time, our bodies exist in liminal spaces between biology and technology. Bodies on both the material and symbolical levels embody the current cultural and social trend in which biology becomes technological and technology becomes biological. The body is seen as a kind of library filled with various bio-devices, body-like entities, biobricks, and synthetically fabricated genetic parts. Taking advantage of the analytical approaches of contemporary anthropology and the sociology of life and the body, the presentation shows the outcomes and results of fieldwork conducted in biological and IVF laboratories in the Czech Republic where the various technologies of molecular biology are used. The paper particularly focuses on life engineering technologies such as repairing DNA, CRISP/cas9, and PGD. The views, perspectives, and attitudes of scientists and laboratory technicians will be analyzed and presented with special regard for the concepts of body and embodiment.