Josep Samitier and Jorge Volpi

Nano robots, lab-made organoids, pig-to-human organ transplants, and personalised medicine are subjects that have gone beyond the bounds of science fiction and into the domain of scientific research and, in some cases, medical practice. For the moment, all these techniques can cure diseases. But they could also come to be used to slow ageing or replace organs which deteriorate with age. Will humans be able to improve rather than become decrepit with time? In that case, how will society change, and what will it mean to be human?

Josep Samitier, director of the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia and expert in nanomedicine, will speak with writer Jorge Volpi, author of the essay La invención de todas las cosas (The Invention of All Things) about how biomedicine will transform the human body and intellect. The science journalist, Cristina Sáez will moderate the discussion.

This discussion is part of “Radical Science”, a cultural project resulting from the research strategy devised by the Complementary Joint Research Plans fund, which is coordinated in Catalonia through ICFO, ALBA Synchrotron, IBEC, and IFAE.