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Paper short abstract

Drawing on findings from a project scoping UK social science in engineering biology, we reflect on possibilities for commoning and sympoiesis of frontier technologies in the UK and beyond.

Paper long abstract

Engineering biology (EngBio) and its precursor synthetic biology (SynBio) have long been priority technologies for the UK, with EngBio now one of six frontier technologies foregrounded in ‘The UK’s Modern Industrial Strategy’ (2025). The UK STS community has engaged dynamically with SynBio since its emergence in the mid-2000s: undertaking analyses of the socio-technical, ethical, political, and epistemic dimensions of the field, collaborating across disciplines, embedding in synthetic biology centres, and contributing to teaching/training, road-mapping, policy-making, and public/stakeholder engagement. However, these interactions have not been without their challenges, often arising from radically diverging imaginaries of the futures of SynBio/EngBio and the role of social science in this landscape (Balmer et al., 2015; Marris and Calvert, 2020).

This paper shares findings from a consultancy research project commissioned by UK research funder the Economic and Social Research Council to scope the current state and future potential of UK social science in EngBio and inform strategy and priorities for investment. Drawing on a review of literature and grants 2007-2025 and a series of workshops and interviews with social scientists, scientists and policymakers in EngBio, we mapped social science contributions, identified gaps and opportunities, and outlined challenges in building interdisciplinary and social science capacity. Many participants shared agendas aligned with commoning (bringing together) of socio-technical frontiers or the overcoming of epistemic and power asymmetries towards sympoiesis (making-with) of socio-technical futures. We reflect on what hope there might be for reconciling these ambitions for frontier technologies within the increasingly growth-oriented setting of UK (and wider) academia.