Thierry Magnin

Classical biology seeks to analyze living systems, their structures, functions and history. What is studied is not directly life but the living through which life is self expressed. And this in terms of functionalities of the living, which is a perfectly legitimate reduction in a scientific framework, as long as it is a conscious process and it does not limit the view on the living, and moreover on life, to functionalities.
Synthetic biology, combined with nano-biotechnology, uses the discoveries of classical biology for the development of synthetic pieces of living and tries to reproduce the essential functions of life. Its goal is also to produce forms of living that nature itself has not yet produced. This vision of life is questionable not only in philosophy (classical distinction between functionality and experiences), at the epistemological level, but also in science itself, where the influence of experience on the functionalities of life begins to be investigated. For instance, in the epigenetic phenomena, the gene expression is influenced by the environment and by the behavior of the individuals carrying these genes. But also in brain plasticity, the development of synapses is affected by the practice of brain functions or by the re-education of these functions.
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These new findings suggest that life is a unity, at least at the physical and psychical, and even spiritual levels for the human being. The respect for the living and for life must take into account this unity that can become a criterion for evaluating and discerning a "humanizing" use of nano-biotechnologies for medical applications, for example.