Baxter, Janella (2025) Alternative Biochemistries of Life Making Universal Constraints Testable. In: UNSPECIFIED.

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Abstract

Synthetic biology defies traditional views about the scope of biological inquiry (Hull 1978; Waters 2007; Weber 2013;). Some authors are skeptical about the epistemic value the field has to the rest of the life sciences (Keller 2009a). This paper demonstrates how artificial biochemistries of life serve an essential epistemic function as semifactual models in biology (Knuuttila and Koskinen 2021). As semifactual models, alternative biochemistries of life facilitate the testing of hypotheses about universal biological constraints. Importantly, clarifying this role also unveils further research questions that would lend greater rigor to synthetic biology research programs.

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Item Type:	Conference or Workshop Item (UNSPECIFIED)
Creators:	Creators Email ORCID Baxter, Janella jxb211@shsu.edu
Keywords:	Synthetic biology, semifactual models, universal constraints, alternative biochemistries of life
Subjects:	Specific Sciences > Biology General Issues > Evidence General Issues > Experimentation General Issues > Models and Idealization General Issues > Technology
Depositing User:	Ms. Janella Baxter
Date Deposited:	24 Sep 2025 11:16
Last Modified:	24 Sep 2025 11:16
Item ID:	26735
Subjects:	Specific Sciences > Biology General Issues > Evidence General Issues > Experimentation General Issues > Models and Idealization General Issues > Technology
Date:	7 April 2025
URI:	https://philsci-archive.pitt.edu/id/eprint/26735

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