bioethics research and scholarship
Publications
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Navigating biosafety concerns within COVID-19 do-it-yourself (DIY) science: an ethnographic and interview study
Anna Wexler, Rebekah Choi, Alex Pearlman, Lisa M. Rasmussen, BioSocieties, March 2023.
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Governing nonconventional genetic experimentation
Maxwell J Mehlman, Ronald A Conlon, Alex Pearlman. Journal of Law and the Biosciences, March 2023.
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“A cohort of pirate ships”: biomedical citizen scientists’ attitudes towards ethical oversight
Meredith Trejo, Isabel Canfield, Whitney Bash Brooks, Alex Pearlman, and Christi Guerrini. Citizen Science: Theory & Practice, May 2021
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Realizing Present and Future Promise of DIY Biology and Medicine through a Trust Architecture
Lisa M. Rasmussen, Christi J. Guerrini, Todd Kuiken, Camille Nebeker, Alex Pearlman, Sarah B. Ware, Anna Wexler, Patricia J. Zettler. Hastings Center Report, November-December 2020.
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Towards Collectively-Defined Ethics Standards for Independent Researchers and Community Bio Groups
Alex Pearlman and David Sun Kong. Available at Medium.
Talks, Lectures, Panels, Keynotes.
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Third International Summit on Human Genome Editing
The Role of Civil Society in Setting Research Agenda: The Role of Activists and DIY Community
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Ars Electronica 2021
“Gloves Off: A Performative Debate about DIY Labs and Citizen Science,” a performative debate that explored whether science should be only in the hands of “experts.”
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defcon biohacking village 2021
“A Cohort of Pirate Ships” In conversation with co-author Christi Guerrini about our interview study.
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The Politics of Social Justice, San Francisco State University
Guest Lecture, Political Science 606, “Diversity of Tactics in the Biohacking Movement.”
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Biosafety, Security + Ethics | Bio Summit 4.0
DIY Vaccines in Community Bio: Fireside Chat with Andrew Scarpelli (ChiTownBio) and Alex Pearlman (Biodesigned magazine)
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NC State University Genetic Engineering and Society Center Colloquium
Natalie Kofler & Alex Pearlman in conversation on COVID-19 Immunity Passports and DIY Vaccines
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Harvard Medical School Research Ethics Consortium
Lecture: “Collaborative Norm-Setting in Community Bio.”
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bio summit 4.0 opening plenary
“Defining Community Ethics”
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Øredev keynote 2018
“On Bioethics: The Ethics of Manipulating (the Future of) Humanity” in Malmö, Sweden.
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DePaul Jaharis health law Symposium 2019
Panel on the ethics of DIY medicine.
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DefCon Bio hacking Village 2018
“DIY Medicine: The Ethics of Biohacking Pharma”
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Biohack the Planet 2018
Fireside chat with former Transhumanist Party leader Zoltan Istvan, moderated by Josiah Zayner.
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Institute of Medical Ethics Annual Conference 2017
The Ethics of Experimentation: Cybernetics and the Therapy/Enhancement Divide
work
MIT Media Lab Community Biotechnology Initiative
My work as a Research Affiliate with the Community Biotechnology Initiative at the MIT Media Lab focuses on the evolution of norms and ethical practices across the global community bio ecosystem. We have developed an open source framework for ethics oversight for use in non-traditional research contexts. Read a draft of our paper.
I am also a member of the organizing team for the Global Community Bio Summit, an annual event that aims to catalyse the movement for Community Biology, hosted by the Community Biotechnology Initiative. I make the websites.
baylor college of medicine Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy
Alongside PI Christi Guerrini and team, consulted on an interview study about the attitudes of biohackers, grinders, and community biologists toward ethics oversight. We also built OutLawBio.org, which we hope to will be a place to disseminate research relevant to biohacking, community biology, DIY biology, and other biomedical science activities, and to promote conversation and collaboration among stakeholders in these spaces.
wexler lab at the University of Pennsylvania Dept. of Health Policy and Medical Ethics
Research and Digital Ethnography on an National Science Foundation-funded project, “Assessing Ethical Challenges in Conducting Do-it-yourself (DIY) Science During the COVID-19 Pandemic.” The primary goal of this RAPID project is to fill that gap by assessing how unregulated, DIY research communities navigate ethical issues in a time of crisis. Specifically, using digital ethnography and interviews, we will examine how participants in open-source COVID-19 projects negotiate three central research ethics challenges: biosafety and harm, validation and replication, and authorship and credit.