Sergei Shevchenko, MSc in Biology and PhD in Philosophy of Science, is a Gerda Henkel postdoctoral fellow at Ruhr University Bochum. His research interests bridge the history and philosophy of life sciences with bioethics.
Currently, his work focuses on past and present studies of genetic and phenotypic instability in biological agents, as well as methods for predicting and managing this instability. This topic connects modern approaches to organism variability, cancer models, and studies of pathogen emergence with historical narratives about political struggles over the authority to govern the living systems. The history of striving to manage unstable biological agents forms the core of his book Hope: Found and Invented (2020, in Russian), which explores the development of phage therapy in the Soviet Union during the 1920s–1940s. In bioethics, his interests revolve around the topics of ethical exceptionalism and issues of irreversibility in the regulation of biomedical technologies.

Vita

• 2024-: Postdoctoral Fellow, Ruhr University Bochum
• 2024: Visiting Scholar, Institute of History and Philosophy of Science and Technology, Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne
• 2023-2024: Guest Researcher, Institute for Philosophy and Social Theory, University of Belgrade
• 2021-2022: Expert (part-time), Center for Law and Bioethics in the Field of Genomic Research, Kutafin Moscow State Law University
• 2019-2022: Researcher, Department of Bioethics, RAS Institute of Philosophy
• 2019: PhD in Philosophy, RAS Institute of Philosophy, Dissertation: ‘Personalized Medicine: Philosophical and Methodological Analyses’
• 2016-2019: Junior Researcher, Department of Bioethics, RAS Institute of Philosophy
• 2016-2017: Laboratory Assistant (part-time), Gene Expression Regulation in Development Lab, RAS Institute of Gene Biology
• 2015-2021: Lecturer (part-time), Department of Bioethics, Pirogov Russian National Research Medical University
• 2010: M.Sc. in Biology, Kostanay State University

Publications

Books

• Hope: Found and Invented. Moscow, Progress-Tradition, 2020

Journal articles

• The Missing Variability Problem in Cancer Prediction: Integrating Multilevel Factors. In Biological Theory (forthcoming, 2026). DOI: 10.1007/s13752-026-00554-7.
• Irreversibility of Transformative Experience as a Criterion for Exceptionalism. In The American Journal of Bioethics (Co-author: Sofya Lavrentyeva, 2025) Link
• Temporal Aspects of Epistemic Injustice: The Case of Patients with Drug Dependence. In Journal of Bioethical Inquiry (Co-author: Alexey Zhavoronkov, 2025) Link
• (Re)producing Identities: The Assumptions in (non)Identity-Affecting Debates. In Humana.Mente Journal of Philosophical Studies (Co-authors: Oliver Feeney and Vojin Rakić, 2024) Link
• The Role of Exceptionalism in the Evolution of Bioethical Regulation. In Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics (Co-author: Alexey Zhavoronkov, 2023) Link
• Association of uncoupling protein (Ucp) gene polymorphisms with cardiometabolic diseases. In Molecular medicine (Co-authors: Anna E. Pravednikova, Victor V. Kerchev, Manana R. Link

Talks

• “Active or Organized Matter: When Biological Experiments Bridge Theory and Governance.” Society for Philosophy of Science in Practice, 11th Biennial Conference, Cambridge, 15–17 July 2026.
• “Not Externalist Enough: Soviet Biology in the Grip of Planned Economy.” European Society for the History of Science/History of Science Society Joint Meeting, Edinburgh, 13 July 2026.
• “From Ecological Preparedness to Epidemic Zoning: Soviet Approaches to Biosecurity.” Contagion, Information, Territory, Leiden University, 18 June 2026.
• “The Double Edge of Biological Multirealizability.” Existential Threats and Other Disasters: Novel (Bio)ethical Solutions for Novel Challenges, Paris, 12 June 2026.
• “Temporal Extensions of Biodiversity Research: The Paradox of the Plankton as a Turning Point.” Diversity in Motion: New Challenges Across the Sciences, Ruhr University Bochum, 26–27 March 2026.
• “‘Science Is the Enemy of Chance’: Combating the Uncontrollable in Stalinist Biology.” Key Topics in Russian Intellectual History Colloquium, Ruhr University Bochum, 22 October 2025.