We Dream You Up
interconnections journal of posthumanism December 9, 2024 Keith Williams, Michelle Braunstein
Synthesizing psilocybin in yeast raises ethical, cultural, and ecological questions that challenge the boundaries of synthetic biology. Drawing on Indigenous knowledges, postcolonial theory, and new materialism, the article uses fictional vignettes and drawings to explore how this technology affects relationships among space, time, and matter. It highlights the risk of commodifying beings traditionally embedded in Indigenous practices and considers matter's agency in entanglements with human intervention. The work provokes critical reflection on the onto-epistemological and psychedelic discourses surrounding synthetic biology, urging more nuanced approaches to its frontiers.