STS Lab Seminar – 2/2 – Michela Cozza (reminder)
Loïc Riom
Dear colleagues,
We warmly invite you to the next session of the Lab seminar, which will take place on Monday, February 2nd, from 12:15 to 14:00, in Geopolis Room 2224 and online.
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We look forward to seeing you there,
Chloé Schaer, Annabella Zamora and Loïc Riom
Monday, February 2nd, 2026 – 12:15 to 14:00 – Geopolis Room 2224 and online (connection details can be found on the event page)
Biocommodification of ageing
Michela Cozza (Université de Trento)
The speculative world depicted by many sci-fi authors intersects with real anti-ageing medicine and its interventions aimed at optimising and enhancing individual functionality as people age. An ontological transformation of human life as we know it aligns with the overarching goal of anti-ageing medicine, while simultaneously raising concerns and provoking reactions from the gerontological community. Through biomedical and biotechnological interventions, anti-ageing practitioners and activists – often committed to a transhumanist agenda – seek not only to improve human form or function beyond what is necessary but also to sidestep the fundamental question of quality versus quantity of life, shifting the focus from merely gaining a few additional years (extension of the lifespan) to complete immortality (radical life extension). The speculative roots of anti-ageing medicine, although symbolic of humankind’s perennial quest for immortality and the search for the Fountain of Youth, should not distract from the script of anti-ageing interventions and the biocommodification they give rise to, particularly in contemporary Western society.
This seminar draws on my forthcoming book Ageing and Technoscience. Processes, practices, and interventions, edited by Bristol University Press. The presentation aims to provide some elements to problematise what, in the book, I call ‘biocommodification of ageing”.
Michela Cozza is an Associate Professor at the Department of Sociology and Social Research of the University of Trento, in Italy, and Visiting Professor at Mälardalen University, in Sweden, where she collaborates with the STS group and the AI group.