"Making perfect life" refers to a broad spectrum of developments in science and technology. In the 21st century we see the emergence of a new engineering approach to life which is shaped by the convergence of four key technologies: nanotechnology, biotechnology, information technology, and the cognitive sciences (NBIC). An important aspect of NBIC convergence is the increasing interaction between the biological and the physical sciences.

This growing interaction can be described in terms of two megatrends: 'biology becoming technology' and 'technology becoming biology'. Biology becoming technology expresses the idea that scientists and engineers increasingly look at living organisms in mechanical terms. Technology becoming biology is driven by the convergence in the opposite direction whereby insights into biological and cognitive processes in the life sciences inspire and enable progress within the engineering sciences.

The STOA project 'Making Perfect Life' looked into four fields of 21st century bio-engineering:

• Engineering of living artefacts
• Engineering of the body
• Engineering of the brain, and
• Engineering of intelligent artefacts.

The project showed how developments in the four fields of bio-engineering are shaped by the two megatrends. These developments result in a broadening of the bio-engineering debate in our society. The project addressed the long term views that are inspiring this debate and discussed a multitude of ethical, legal, and social issues that arise from bio- engineering developments in the fields mentioned.

Four specific developments, one for each of the fields, were studied in more detail:

• The rise of human genome sequencing
• The market introduction of neurodevices
• The capturing by information technology of the psychological and physiological states of users, and
• The pursuit of standardization in synthetic biology.

The overall result is that there is an evident regulatory gap in urgent need of filling. Rather than waiting for the devices to get on the market, politicians should consider the regulatory framework while these products are still under development. Regulators are well-advised not to take a complacent or wait-and-see attitude.

ITAS was in particular responsible for studying the field of engineering of intelligent artefacts, which included the case study on biocybernetically adaptive computer applications such as affective and physiological computing as well as social robots and artificial companions.

The main publications of the project and an overview article in the VolTA-magazine are recommended for reading:

• Van Est, R. & D. Stemerding (eds.) (2012) Making Perfect Life: European governance challenges in 21st century bio-engineering – Final report. Brussels: European Parliament, STOA.
  http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/etudes/join/2012/471574/IPOL-JOIN_ET%282012%29471574_EN.pdf
• Van Est, R. & D. Stemerding (eds.) (2012) Making Perfect Life: European governance challenges in 21st century bio-engineering – Study summary. Brussels: European Parliament, STOA.
  http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/etudes/join/2012/471574/IPOL-JOIN_ET%282012%29471574%28SUM01%29_EN.pdf
• Van Est, R. et al. (2011) Making Perfect Life: Bio-engineering (in) the 21st century – Monitoring report. Brussels: European Parliament, STOA.
  http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/etudes/join/2011/471570/IPOL-JOIN_ET%282011%29471570_EN.pdf
• Dorren, Gaston (2013): Making Perfect Life? The blurring boundaries between biology and technology. In: volTA nr. 4, April 2013;
  http://volta.pacitaproject.eu/megatrends-in-bioengineering/

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