<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

<p>Intended as a branch of synthetic biology, xenobiology aims to design and build non-standard life forms, that is to constructively venture into biological otherness. According to this creative and speculative character, it challenges the principles of synthetic biology itself, which is tied to a fundamentally reductionist approach. Xenobiology does not treat life as a closed code, but rather as a field of ontological innovation; in this sense, it evokes a biosemiotic paradigm that accounts for sense-making and non-anthropomorphic interactions.</p>
<p>Xenobiology, however, can also be intended as the “divergent” and most speculative part of astrobiology, namely as a theory of contact with extra-terrestrial life. According to this second meaning, it searches for and speculates on alien biologies. Building on these two meanings, the paper aims to outline a semiotic theory of otherness, or ‘xenosemiotics’, that shifts the focus from communication to morphogenetic information.</p>
</abstract>

Intended as a branch of synthetic biology, xenobiology aims to design and build non-standard life forms, that is to constructively venture into biological otherness. According to this creative and speculative character, it challenges the principles of synthetic biology itself, which is tied to a fundamentally reductionist approach. Xenobiology does not treat life as a closed code, but rather as a field of ontological innovation; in this sense, it evokes a biosemiotic paradigm that accounts for sense-making and non-anthropomorphic interactions.
Xenobiology, however, can also be intended as the “divergent” and most speculative part of astrobiology, namely as a theory of contact with extra-terrestrial life. According to this second meaning, it searches for and speculates on alien biologies. Building on these two meanings, the paper aims to outline a semiotic theory of otherness, or ‘xenosemiotics’, that shifts the focus from communication to morphogenetic information.

Xenosemiotics. Toward an Alienist Materialism

Linguistic Frontiers

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

{"article-title":"Xenosemiotics. Toward an Alienist Materialism"}

Intended as a branch of synthetic biology, xenobiology aims to design and build non-standard life forms, that is to constructively venture into biological...

Xenosemiotics. Toward an Alienist Materialism

Published Online: Dec 30, 2022

Page range: 49 - 55

Received: Jul 01, 2022

Accepted: Nov 01, 2022

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/lf-2022-0021

Keywords
Biosemiotics, Xenobiology, Speculative biology, Synthetic biology, Astrobiology

© 2022 Gregorio Tenti, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Xenosemiotics. Toward an Alienist Materialism

Published Online: Dec 30, 2022

Page range: 49 - 55

Received: Jul 01, 2022

Accepted: Nov 01, 2022

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/lf-2022-0021

KeywordsBiosemiotics, Xenobiology, Speculative biology, Synthetic biology, Astrobiology

© 2022 Gregorio Tenti, published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Keywords
Biosemiotics, Xenobiology, Speculative biology, Synthetic biology, Astrobiology