The Pratt Conference on Science, Politics, and Ethics:
"Current Debates in Genetic Research and its Ethical Implications"
19 May, 2013 
Poster.pdf
On the Centre
The Jacques Loeb Centre for the History and Philosophy of the Life Sciences at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel, supports advanced research covering all topics relevant to the life sciences.
The Centre is named after German-American physiologist Jacques Loeb (1859-1924), legendary experimentalist and seminal thinker in the history of biology. His passionate promotion of biology as an exact experimental science and his opposition to the vitalistic concepts prevalent around 1900 impacted greatly on the development of the life sciences. He had a strong influence on the work of Otto Warburg, Thomas Hunt Morgan, Hermann Muller, Herbert S. Jennings, and several others. Loeb's interest in philosophical and political issues brought him into contact with major figures in science, philosophy, and history, including Svante Arrhenius, Albert Einstein, Ernst Mach, Leonor Michaelis, Wilhelm Ostwald and George Sarton.
The Centre pursues a wide range of investigations into the history and philosophy of modern experimental life sciences and serves as an interdisciplinary forum. Research topics include, but are not restricted to: History of deas in modern biology, analysis of scientific progress and research practices, and the ethics of research; the influence of politics and various ideologies on the conduct of science; and the nature of the connections between bio-scientists and industry.
The Centre was founded in 2007 and has been directed since then by
Ute Deichmann. Avigail Buhler is the administrative assistant.
Ori Freiman is the research assistant and coordinator of the Centre’s activities.