Institute of National Planning holds a symposium entitled
“Vital politics and its impact on the future of the state and society”
The Planning Methods Center at the National Planning Institute organized a symposium entitled “Vital Politics and its Impact on the Future of the State and Society”. The symposium was moderated by Dr. Basma Al-Haddad, Director of the Center. The meeting included a number of distinguished presentations in the field of “vital politics and its impact on the future of the state and society”, by Dr. Nadia Zakhary, former Minister of Scientific Research, and Dr. Heba Gamal El-Din, Assistant Professor of Political Science and Future Studies at the Center, and Dr. Ahmed Shawky, former head of the Biotechnology Sector Committee at the Academy of Scientific Research, and full-time professor of genetics at the Faculty of Agriculture, Zagazig University, “via the Zoom platform.”
In the introduction to the symposium, Dr. Basma Al-Haddad indicated that the meeting aims to shed light on what biopolitics is as a new science that combines political science and biology, and the consequent scientific boom that led to the emergence of posthuman concepts and the enhancement of human bodies, the augmented human being, the Internet of bodies and cyborgs. , biorobots, genetic editing, and others, which led to several problems in the light of new actors on the political scene and a change in the pillars of sovereignty, citizenship, and identity.
The Director of the Center for Planning Methods added that the symposium deals with China’s unique experience in the field of biopolitics as a pioneering experience that combines medicine, politics and market needs, especially in light of the Corona pandemic and the resulting boom of the People’s Republic of China in the field of biotechnology, and the questions raised about China’s management of individual genetic risks. and issues of biopolitics governance.
Dr. Heba Gamal El-Din also reviewed the development of vital politics and its impact on the pillars of the state, the people, sovereignty and national security, the changes it may bring about in the state’s territory, the scientific breakthroughs that led to its emergence, and the consequent legal problems that lie before the legislator, the politician and the decision-maker.
The assistant professor of political science and future studies touched on some international experiences in the field of biopolitics, pointing to the Chinese position on them in the field of genetics, modifications to somatic cells and gene therapy, and the American position on lifting the ban on the use of biopolitics as one of the weapons that countries may resort to. .
In the same context, Dr. Nadia Zakhari emphasized that the human genome project carries with it many advantages, including its use in the field of forensic medicine, agriculture and veterinary medicine, identifying endangered animal species, population studies and anthropology, and information about genetic maps, noting the ethics that must be Commitment to it to achieve the goals of sustainable development, and must be taken into account when conducting genetic research.
Zakhari stressed the need to study the laws regulating genetic research at the national, regional and international levels, and to develop a binding law that is in line with our society morally, religiously and socially.
This comes while Dr. Ahmed Shawky indicated that the human structure is complex and carries two types of genes, which are hereditary genes and cultural genes acquired from the environment in which a person was raised, which must be taken into account when studying this type of science, reviewing some political problems that may result. On biopolitical sciences such as racial discrimination, racism, and others.