Joy Y. Zhang

One of the happiest moments in life is to have your book endorsed by people whose work you hugely admire! Thank you @jameswilsdon @RoRInstotute, Aiwha Ong @CalAnthro and Michael MJ Fischer @MITPSTS @ManchesterUP @SSPSSR @CentreEpistemic

It's 25 yrs to the day since the Human Genome Project & Craig Venter declared joint victory in sequencing the human genome - an ideal time for @wellcometrust to annouce their new project, involving our lab, to begin work towards synthesising human genomes wellcome.org/news/researche…

Really pleased to see the @BritSciAssoc report on public engagement in engineering biology out- five vital messages to enable better research, policy and future scale-up. britishscienceassociation.org/Handlers/Downl…

We’re pleased to host the Care-full Synthesis programme, led by @ProfJoyZhang, as part of the new @wellcometrust Synthetic Human Genome Project. The programme collaborates globally with research & civil society partners. Postdoc recruitment opening soon. research.kent.ac.uk/global-science…

Just under a week left to get applications in for these positions. ⏰

🚨 Registration is now open for #ESSL2025! 📍17–18 Sept | Manchester, UK A global conference on synthetic & systems life, with talks on engineering biology, ethics, and emerging technologies. 🔗 essl2025.org Please act fast as we only have 70 tickets!

As series editor, I’m thrilled that the first ISA session on the SSIS books went so well! We explored how Key Texts for Japanese Sociology contributes to rethinking global sociology. #isaforum25 @SAGEPublishers

V proud to be part of this fantastic team showcasing diverse sociological perspectives and practices from around the globe.

Controversial 'Synthetic Human Genome Project' spurs debate over ethics of building human DNA from scratch. thedebrief.org/controversial-…

Had a good debate with David King last night on Times Radio (1:38:00–1:52:00) We must recognise the diverse, complex needs of different communities and not see them as submissive or powerless. Everyone has insight and agency to inform and shape science thetimes.com/radio/show/202…

.⁦@wellcometrust⁩ is to fund a project to create artificial human DNA 25 years after the human genome was completed. bbc.com/news/articles/…

On this day in 2000, the human genome draft was published. On this day in 2025, the synthetic genome project begins. Honoured to lead Care-full Synthesis—exploring SynHG's socio-ethical dimensions worldwide. The future is ours to shape, with care. wellcome.org/news/new-proje…

New special issue of @CurrentSociolog on "Guiding Distinctions of Social Theory", co-guest edited with @GubernatorHomo, Harry Dahms, and Arthur Atanesyan. With contributions from @Larsinthecloud, @autopoieticus, @ImTunnel, @gastonbecerra, @fratribus, @FcoXMorales, @falasales, and…

An exciting week for Engineering Biology in the UK is kicked off with announcement of major commitments by the Government’s Dept of Science Innovation & Technology on both EngBio R&D (£196m initial investment) and scale-up capacity in the UK (£184m initial investment). 👏 🇬🇧 👏

Interested in applying social research to advance more socially just forms of knowledge production? Sign up for this BSA STS Group-GSEJ joint online event that's taking place next Monday afternoon! eventbrite.co.uk/e/sts-for-epis…

Missed the webinar? Here’s your chance to catch up! youtube.com/watch?v=ZaReGE…

📢📢 UK researchers in Engineering Biology of all levels (students, technicians, postdocs, PIs, CTOs and CEOs) - what are your thoughts about using AI in your work? The UK government is looking to gather views to shape policy via a survey. If you have 10 min spare please do it.

The question of open-access science publishing requires innovative models to solve. In this paper, we propose one such model—a Government of India-led digital platform that espouses the principles of DPI and allows unfettered science publishing and access to knowledge.

FINALLY! My article “5E Mental Health? Notes on an emerging style of thought” is now published and is available at doi.org/10.1177/136346…

🎉🌱So thrilled to announce nine teams we’re backing in our Synthetic Plants programme at @ARIA_research. I can't wait to work with this exciting group as we lay the foundations for breakthroughs in synthetic biology, with potentially transformative benefits for the UK + world 🌍

We’re incredibly excited to be working with all the teams to explore the socio-ethical dimensions of this exciting frontier in plant technologies. ‘Futuring Biological Commons’ is all about sparking fresh ways to question, connect, and co-create as bold new innovations take root.