ARTENGINE

The project addresses contemporary challenges in the field of reproductive genetic technologies from a sociological and anthropological perspective. It consists of analysis of two contexts, two European countries: Germany and the Czech Republic. The research is focused on the ethnographical and interview-based analysis of PGD (preimplantation genetic diagnosis) and genome editing, recombinant DNA technologies. There is a lack of reflection on the broader social and cultural context and on the ramifications of life engineering, specifically PGD in the Czech Republic, from the anthropological and sociological point of view. These issues remain unanalysed, contributing to a lack of understanding of the specific concerns of the life sciences in the Eastern European and post-socialist context. The research is guided by two main objectives. First, it explores the social and cultural background and the specific concerns of the use of PGD and genome editing in the European context. Second, it analyses the cultural and social practices and forms of agency, naming, defining, and dealing with engineered life within reproductive health issues. The research is based on a broad range of qualitative sociological and ethnographic methods, combining techniques such as semi-structured interviews, ethnographic observations, and critical discourse analysis as well as digital sociology and multi-sited ethnography.

Principal investigator(s)Dr. Eva Šlesingerová
Periodsince 10.2017
Funding institutionMarie Skłodowska-Curie Fellowship
Project typePost-doc Project