Every year thousands of young people exhibit designs for genetically modified organisms at the International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) competition in Boston. Regarding living creatures as “machines” is nothing new. Even still, life is being remade in novel and surprising ways as iGEM students use increasingly fast and cheap genetic engineering tools. Designs for living machines that seek to optimize biology are ironically generating new kinds of wildness where a loss of control presents unknown risks and new dangers. Human health and the well-being of other species is at stake. Following students from iGEM to their home universities—in Sydney, London, and Abu Dhabi—I studied the interplay of utopian dreams and nightmare scenarios. Some iGEM participants hope to alter the human condition with new kinds of symbiotic bacteria. Other competitors seek to repair fragile multispecies worlds where endangered species and structurally marginalized people are in precarious situations. Power is functioning predictably at iGEM. FBI agents are promoting government and corporate interests as they police narrowly defined risks. Gatekeepers to capital are translating the entrepreneurial potential of student projects into profit. The imagination has become a battlefield as students with alternative priorities, values, interests, and ethical commitments struggle to find support.

中文翻译：

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活机器变得狂野

每年都有成千上万的年轻人在波士顿举行的国际基因工程机器 (iGEM) 比赛中展示转基因生物的设计。将生物视为“机器”并不是什么新鲜事。即便如此，随着 iGEM 学生使用越来越快速和廉价的基因工程工具，生活正在以新颖和令人惊讶的方式被改造。具有讽刺意味的是，旨在优化生物学的活体机器设计正在产生新的野性，在这种情况下，失去控制会带来未知的风险和新的危险。人类健康和其他物种的福祉受到威胁。跟随 iGEM 的学生到他们的家乡大学——悉尼、伦敦和阿布扎比——我研究了乌托邦梦想和噩梦场景的相互作用。一些 iGEM 参与者希望用新型共生细菌改变人类状况。其他竞争者寻求修复脆弱的多物种世界，在这些世界中，濒临灭绝的物种和结构边缘化的人处于不稳定的境地。Power 在 iGEM 中发挥着可预见的作用。联邦调查局特工在监管狭义的风险时，正在促进政府和企业的利益。资本的守门人正在将学生项目的创业潜力转化为利润。随着具有不同优先事项、价值观、兴趣和道德承诺的学生努力寻求支持，想象力已成为战场。资本的守门人正在将学生项目的创业潜力转化为利润。随着具有不同优先事项、价值观、兴趣和道德承诺的学生努力寻求支持，想象力已成为战场。资本的守门人正在将学生项目的创业潜力转化为利润。随着具有不同优先事项、价值观、兴趣和道德承诺的学生努力寻求支持，想象力已成为战场。