In this context, experts in biology and biomedicine Josef Martin Penning, INSO Hyun, Annelies L. Bredenoord, Lluís Montoliu and Marc Güell met at the Biennial to talk about Human Genetics: Challenges and Limits, discussing the potential of new knowledge but also analysing the ethical implications of altering our genome. The biotechnological revolution of the 21st century has opened the doors to new lines of research in the field of synthetic biology for the design of new organisms in the laboratory, among other purposes, to help us live longer and better lives. This was also discussed at the Biennale in the dialogue Synthetic Biology and Engineering to Generate Living Systems, which was held between synthetic biology pioneer Ron Weiss, bioinformatician Michael Levin and bioengineer Nuria Montserrat, moderated by science journalist Michele Catanzaro.

Innovation knows no bounds, and new knowledge has emerged around all this knowledge that is already shaping the future of our health. One example is optogenetics, a technique with which certain functions of cells can be controlled by light. This surprising technique applied to the study and treatment of brain diseases, as well as the ethical challenges it poses, was discussed in the debate Neurotechnology: Illuminating Mind and Disease, with neuroscientist Victoria Puig, engineer Jose A. Garrido and the disseminator Pere Estupinyà. And the improvement and enhancement of the human being derived from all the new knowledge and the fusion of the body with technology was also discussed in the Transhumanism dialogue that the philosopher and expert in technology and biomedicine Julian Savulescu held with the journalist Mònica Terribas about this current in favour of the improvement of human aptitudes.

Thanks to advances in science, prosperity, better habits and hygienic measures, people's life expectancy has not stopped growing. On average, we now live longer than before, but with the ageing of people have come new diseases, such as neurodegenerative diseases, and other social problems related to loneliness and dependency. These aspects were also made clear at the Biennial in proposals such as the dialogue Ageing in Health and Disease, with the biologist María Blasco, the philosopher Victoria Camps and the scientific journalist Cristina Sáez; the round table Rethinking Death and Aging, with the philosophers Francis García Collado and Santiago Zabala, the virtual reality expert Mel Slater and the neurobiologist Mara Dierssen; and the round table Public Health, Policy and Care, with the philosopher Josep Maria Esquirol, the bioethics expert Lydia Feito and the nurse and philosopher Esther Busquets.

Now you can enjoy these proposals at home through their recordings and relive the City and Science Biennial!

See all the videos from the Biennial