Making perfect life : bio-engineering (in) the 21st century : interim report - phase I

This document is the end result of the preparatory phase of the STOA-project "Making perfect life". This phase ran from August to November 2009. During this preparatory phase the research focus of the STOA-project "Making perfect life" was defined. This resulted inthe study document Making Perfect Life: Bio-engineering (in) the 21st century. This study document deals with the framing of the project "Making perfect life". The title refers to a new set of engineering capabilities and ambitions that have developed at the beginning of this century. The present report explains and illustrates this by looking at four different domains of bio-engineering: · engineering of the body; · engineering of living artefacts; · engineering of the brain; · engineering of intelligent artefacts. We argue that there is a need to reflect from a societal point of view on the new developments in these engineering fields within the life sciences and info-cogno sciences.