Blending of Biomimetics and engineering / pioneering
This article is about the history and usage of the word bioneer. For the annual conference, see Bioneers.
Bioneer (root: "biological pioneer") is a neologism coined by filmmaker, author and eco-activist Kenny Ausubel.[1] According to Utne Reader, a bioneer is "a biological pioneer, an ecological inventor who's got an elegant and often simple set of solutions for environmental conundrums."[1] As coined by Ausubel, the term describes individuals and groups working in diverse disciplines who have crafted creative solutions to various environmental and socio-cultural problems rooted in shared core values, including whole systems, (anticipatory) thinking, a view of all life as interdependent, and sustainable mutual aid.
The greatest use of the term since its coinage has been in relation to the annual Bioneers conference founded by Ausubel and his wife Nina Simons and held annually in San Rafael, California, and its participants. However, in recent years the term or derivations has seen increasing use independent of the Bioneers organization, suggesting an increasing acceptance of the term in popular usage. For example, a 2005 article on the use and manufacture of biodiesel fuels in northern California was titled "Bioneering Biodiesel."[2] An April 2007 symposium and art exhibition at University of California, Irvine focused on food production, consumption, and distribution was called "Bioneering: Hybrid Investigations of Food."[3]
Other usage
Bioneer and its derivations have also been used in relationship to biotechnology. This usage of the term appears to come from independent coinages based on a portmanteau of "biotechnology" and "engineering" and/or "pioneering". The Cambridge, Massachusetts drug-screening company Bioneering Technologies describes itself as being focused on "the fusion between biotechnology, engineering, and pioneering services (hence, Bioneering)."[4] Students in the Bachelor of Biotechnology Innovation program at Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane, Australia called themselves bioneers "as they regard themselves as pioneering a new era in biotechnology."[5] The Korea-based international biotechnology firm Korea Biotech, Inc., founded in 1992, changed its name in 1996 to Bioneer Corporation.[6] Bioneer A/S is the registered name of a Danish CRO/CDMO offering research and development services to pharma and biotech companies.[7] Bioneer is also a term adopted by those who visit the Biomatrix website for self-improvement. This site and forum advocated the use of bodybuilding,[8] training and technology to improve not only one's muscles (as would a bodybuilder) but also your other physical attributes such as speed, agility and intelligence.[9]
The fictional biotech company Bioneer Research appears in episode 7 season 8 of Quincy M.E., "Science for Sale" (1982), where it is used to illustrate Wall Streets influence on science.
Difference between usages
While Ausubel's coinage does not specifically refer to biotechnology, the second coinage of bioneer referring to biotechnology is clearly antithetical to the term as understood by Ausubel and those influenced by him and the Bioneers organization. In the book Nature's Operating Instructions: The True Biotechnologies (coedited with J. P. Harpignies), Ausubel has made a clear distinction between corporate biotech, including genetic engineering, which he decries, and what he has termed "true biotechnologies" based on biomimicry, natural design, and the restoration of natural capital.[10]
Notes
Look up bioneer in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
↑ Ausubel, Kenny, and J. P. Harpignies, eds. (2004) Nature's Operating Instructions: The True Biotechnologies. The Bioneers Series. Sierra Club Books.
Related Research Articles
Biotechnology is a multidisciplinary field that involves the integration of natural sciences and engineering sciences in order to achieve the application of organisms and parts thereof for products and services.
Biodiesel is a renewable biofuel, a form of diesel fuel, derived from biological sources like vegetable oils, animal fats, or recycled greases, and consisting of long-chain fatty acid esters. It is typically made from fats.
Bioneers, under its parent foundation, Collective Heritage Institute, is a nonprofit environmental advocacy organization based in New Mexico and California. Founded in 1990 their philosophy recognizes and cultivates the value and wisdom of the natural world, emphasizing that responses to problems must be in harmony with the design of natural systems. Official Programs include Moonrise Women's Leadership, Restorative Food Systems, Indigeneity ), Education for Action, and the award-winning Dreaming New Mexico community resilience program.
Genentech, Inc. is an American biotechnology corporation headquartered in South San Francisco, California. It became an independent subsidiary of Roche in 2009. Genentech Research and Early Development operates as an independent center within Roche. Historically, the company is regarded as the world's first biotechnology company.
Biodiesel production is the process of producing the biofuel, biodiesel, through the chemical reactions of transesterification and esterification. This process renders a product (chemistry) and by-products.
Sir Gregory Paul Winter is a Nobel Prize-winning English molecular biologist best known for his work on the therapeutic use of monoclonal antibodies. His research career has been based almost entirely at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology and the MRC Centre for Protein Engineering, in Cambridge, England.
The Council for Responsible Genetics (CRG) was a nonprofit NGO with a focus on biotechnology.
Gregory Stock is an American biophysicist, best-selling author, biotech entrepreneur, and the former director of the Program on Medicine, Technology and Society at UCLA’s School of Medicine. His interests lie in the scientific and evolutionary as well as ethical, social and political implications of today's revolutions in the life sciences and in information technology and computers.
Angela M. Belcher is a materials scientist, biological engineer, and the James Mason Crafts Professor of Biological Engineering and Materials Science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. She is director of the Biomolecular Materials Group at MIT, a member of the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research, and a 2004 MacArthur Fellow. In 2019, she was named head of the Department of Biological Engineering at MIT. She was elected a member of the National Academy of Sciences in 2022.
Devgen is a Belgium-based multinational agricultural biotechnology company. It uses biotechnology and molecular breeding technologies to develop varieties of food crops. Its technology is marketed by outlicensing or selling seeds in India and South-East Asia. Devgen also develops nematicides.
Ivor Royston is an American oncologist, researcher, scientist, entrepreneur and venture capitalist, recognized for his efforts to develop treatments for multiple disease targets and to fund biotechnology companies with promising science, technology or medicines. He speaks regularly at healthcare conferences and symposia throughout the United States, Europe and Asia.
Denise Caruso is an American journalist and analyst specializing in the industries of digital technology and biotechnology. She was dubbed “the Walter Winchell of Silicon Valley” by WIRED magazine. She is the founder and executive director of The Hybrid Vigor Institute, a non-profit think tank created in 2000 that emphasizes cross-sector collaboration.
China has seen double-digit growth in its biotechnology industry and has gone from being one of the slowest to one of the fastest nations in the adoption of new biotechnologies. The biotech sector is seen in China and internationally as a core area of national scientific and economic development. The main national biotech body in the country is the China National Center for Biotechnology Development. The CNCBD is an organization established on November 3, 1983, under the Ministry of Science and Technology with the approval of the State Council. CNCBD is the sole national center to coordinate and implement the national S&T program in Biotechnology and Health.
The Center for Biotechnology, Law and Ethics is a bioethics, biotechnology, and biotechnology law research center of Cumberland School of Law located on the Samford University campus in Birmingham, Alabama. It is one of the few research centers of its kind at a United States law school, and, in conjunction with the Cumberland Law Review, the Center publishes an annual journal of scholarly works, which circulates in the United States and foreign countries.
Religious views on genetically modified foods have been mixed, although as yet, no genetically modified foods have been designated as unacceptable by religious authorities.
Nina Simons is a co-founder & co-CEO of Bioneers, and an organizer of women's leadership retreats and trainings. Her book Nature, Culture & the Sacred: A Woman Listens for Leadership (2018) received the 2018 Nautilus Gold Award in the "Women" category and Silver Award in the "Social Change & Social Justice: category.
Frederick M Ausubel is an American molecular biologist and professor of genetics at Harvard Medical School in Boston and is the Karl Winnacker Distinguished Investigator in the Department of Molecular Biology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston., Massachusetts.
Henri A. Termeer was a Dutch biotechnology executive and entrepreneur who is considered a pioneer in corporate strategy in the biotechnology industry for his tenure as CEO at Genzyme. Termeer created a business model adopted by many others in the biotech industry by garnering steep prices— mainly from insurers and government payers— for therapies for rare genetic disorders known as orphan diseases that mainly affect children. Genzyme uses biological processes to manufacture drugs that are not easily copied by generic-drug makers. The drugs are also protected by orphan drug acts in various countries which provides extensive protection from competition and ensures coverage by publicly funded insurers. As CEO of Genzyme from 1981 to 2011, he developed corporate strategies for growth including optimizing institutional embeddedness nurturing vast networks of influential groups and clusters: doctors, private equity, patient-groups, insurance, healthcare umbrella organizations, state and local government, and alumni. Termeer was "connected to 311 board members in 17 different organizations across 20 different industries" He has the legacy of being the "longest-serving CEO in the biotechnology industry.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
