Bios, polis and the autoimmune

Abstract

Discourses about immunological structure have been historically productive in both the biological sciences and in political theory. In this article I argue that a deeper historical structure underlies both kinds of discourse and I attempt to draw some implications from this in relation to the current state of biomedical research in Singapore. Taking the establishment of Singapore's dedicated biomedical research institution, Biopolis, as a starting point, the article raises several questions: the first concerns the role of biomedical research in Singapore in relation to its larger political economy; the second concerns the relationship between Asian bioscience in relation to international trends; the third concerns the deeper historical structures that, as I will argue, underlie the contemporary situation. After discussing the role of Biopolis in Singapore I outline some theoretical considerations towards an understanding of the kinds of immunological structure that characterize the relations discussed in the first part. I argue that the structure of relations might be understood as auto-immunological (or self-immunizing) and in making the case I draw selectively on disparate fields: mathematics, biology and philosophy. © 2012 SAGE Publications.