Europe seeks to become the most dynamic knowledge-based economy of the globe. The production and circulation of bio-objects, such as stem cells, chimera, tissue samples or genetically modified organisms, play a key part in this endeavour. This Action seeks to develop novel interdisciplinary tools in order to enhance our understanding of bio-objects, their production and circulation in time and in space, and their governance. The core questions that this Action seeks to answer are:

December 8, 2011: The volume "Bio-Objects: Life in the 21st Century", edited by Niki Vermeulen, Sakari Tamminen and Andrew Webster, has been published by Ashgate.
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how are the boundaries between human and animal, organic and non-organic, living and the non-living opened up?

how does the governance of bio-objects play out at different levels, from the level of the European Union and its Member States to the subpolitical level, and finally in clinics and laboratories?

how do bio-objects change social relations?

The Action will bring together a group of young scholars across a range of disciplines in collaboration with more experienced researchers, including those from the bioscience community. It will develop models of the bio-objectification process, the policy challenges and political and social resources needed to address this, and how both will play a key role in delivering the knowledge-based economy sought in the Lisbon Agenda.

This Action has started in December 2010 and is scheduled to run until December 2014.