The Meanings of Life Project:
The New Biology
at Marginalia's
Institute for the Meanings of Science
Research Director: Philip Ball, Ph.D.
Director, Samuel Loncar, Ph.D.
How Life Works by Philip Ball “is a must-read user’s guide for biologists and non-biologists alike… It’s time to stop pretending that, give or take a few bits and pieces, we know how life works. Instead, we must let our ideas evolve as more discoveries are made in the coming decades.”
-Denis Noble, Nature
Burdon Sanderson Chair of Cardiovascular Physiology at the University of Oxford (1984 to 2004)
THE PROJECT
The Meanings of Life Project: The New Biology is led by Institute Director, Samuel Loncar, and Research Director, Philip Ball, author of How Life Works: A User’s Guide to the New Biology (University of Chicago Press), and it brings together a working group of leading scientists, scholars, and industry leaders coming together to advance the new scientific vision of life revealed by modern biology, and synthesized in Ball’s book.
The project convenes around this major synthesis, and aims to identify a new narrative for the field through a multi-disciplinary integrative approach that seeks to unite fundamental research at the level of genes, molecules and cells to notions of agency, purpose, and meaning in living entities.
THE PURPOSE
The purpose of the project is to seek ways of understanding and communicating how living organisms function at many different scales, look for the new conceptual and metaphorical frameworks that do justice to the richness of “post-genomic biology,” help to inform medical and health sciences, and reveal the special and wondrous nature of living organisms.
Sir Paul Nurse, Director of the Francis Crick Institute, was the first core member of the New Biology Project. We are grateful to Sir Paul and the Francis Crick Institute for hosting our first conversation.
Our goal is to raise $100,000 to fully fund The New Biology Project by June 15, 2025,
leading to the in-person 2026 Symposium and publications.
Planning this event requires at least a year’s advance preparation and funds.
Help us reach our time-sensitive goal of $30,000 by April 23.
Check out our Partnership Options and find out what you will gain by giving.
Most of all, we hope that these new narratives can help restore a sense of awe and reverence...
-Philip Ball
Research Director of The Meanings of Life Project: The New Biology
former editor at Nature,
recipient of the 2022 Royal Society's
Wilkins-Bernal-Medawar Medal and Lecture
author of over 25 books
PARTNER TODAY: You Gain by Giving
You can defend knowledge, inquiry, and insight—partner with Marginalia today. Become a Founding Partner for the New Biology Project at the Institute for the Meanings of Science.
PARTNERSHIP TIERS
Founder's Circle $5000 +
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Special project access, like invitations to live events online and in person
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Interview with MRB, bringing your partnership story to over 100,000 readers
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Project newsletter for the partnership community
Benefactor's Circle $1000 +
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Special project access, like invitations to live events online
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Project newsletter for the partnership community
Contributors $500 +
Affiliates: $500 +
Friends: $10 +
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Project newsletter for the partnership community
All partners will be listed publicly online and in print by their first name and last initial. Please include a comment with your donation if you would like your full name printed.
READ ALL ABOUT IT
Philip Ball, author of How Life Works, introduces the project in its inaugural essay, "After the Genetic Paradigm: Why We Need a New Biology."
THE BEHIND-THE-SCENES STORY
Since 2020, Marginalia has been on the front lines of science communication, which began with the Meanings of Science Project that launched with a $100,000 donation from the Templeton World Charity Foundation.
The project has lead to over 30 publications and its members have been reshaping the global conversation around science in academia and beyond, and we are working on a book form of the publications for a major university press.
To continue and build on the success of the Meanings of Science Project, we are making its work permanent through the Meanings of Science Institute. Our first major project is the Meanings of Life Project: The New Biology, whose Research Director is Philip Ball, our Editor for Science, and the author of How Life Works: A User’s Guide to the New Biology (University of Chicago Press).
Our Partners
FOUNDER'S CIRCLE
$5000+
Alexandra B.
Samuel L.
BENEFACTOR'S CIRCLE
$1000+
CONTRIBUTORS
$10-$999
Aliman S.
Elizabeth C.
Luke P.
Elaina B.
Doug T.
Alison S.
Nickolas B.
Rachel H.
Tom Y.
Matt F.
John H.
Nick L.
The Meanings of Life Project:
The New Biology
at Marginalia's
Institute for the Meanings of Science
Lead Researcher: Philip Ball, Ph.D.
Director, Samuel Loncar, Ph.D.
