GEtGut · Gene Editing Human Gut Microbes: Knowledge, Ethics & Responsibility Through a Multispecies Lens

Intersecting post-genomics, microbial studies, and health research, GEtGut explores the gene editing of microorganisms inhabiting the human gut, within the broader post-genomic view of bodies. It investigates how the understanding of the human body as a multispecies biological system in constant exchange with its environment (as highlighted by the Human Genome Project) shapes scientists’ conceptions of their research, their experimental frameworks, and their socio-ethical perspectives on the gene editing of gut microbes.Situated in the field of Science and Technology Studies, GEtGut innovates in the investigation of microbial engineering by building on a multispecies approach that brings humans and microbes into a single analytical frame. Through ethnographic research in two laboratories—including interviews with scientists and documentary analysis of research ethics protocols and scientific literature—, GEtGut examines (1) the ontological and epistemological status of the gut microbes in gene editing research protocols and laboratory practices, (2) the framing of ethical questions in the field, and (3) the understanding of responsibility in the context of ecological models of bodies and health. While gene editing technologies fuel the ambition to redesign evolution across species, from microbes to humans, current regulations on genetic engineering are falling behind. GEtGut will generate complex, interdisciplinary knowledge that brings together biomedical sciences, social sciences, and environmental humanities, fostering theoretical, policy, and democratic debate on the responsible governance of gut microbiome gene editing. With GEtGut I will develop new methodological skills necessary to conduct a laboratory ethnography, and strengthen my interdisciplinary competence in bridging social and life sciences by expanding my analytical expertise in biotechnology innovations applied to human and non-human organisms.