Synthetic Biology – Applications, Risk Assessment and Ethical Aspects
A collaborative project between the Danish Board of Technology and the Danish Council of Ethics.
Synthetic biology is a new field of research that allows completely original biological systems to be designed and constructed. These new biological systems do not exist in ordinary nature, but are rather the product of the work of biologists, engineers, physicists, chemists, and IT-specialists. The purpose of the field is to gain insight into living systems and to create new organisms intended for practical applications. It is a new field of research that attracts large public and private investments, which are based on the many expectations in regards to the potential applications of the field. These notions give rise to a debate concerning the societal consequences caused by investing in synthetic biology: What are the new ethical and societal aspects of synthetic biology, and what about the future applications and developments made possible by the field?
Synthetic biology encompasses a broad range of disciplines, such as molecular biology, modeling of biological processes, chemistry, physics, IT and engineering on a cellular level. The fundamental notion in synthetic biology is that all biological processes can be analysed as a series of individual and functional units, which can be described, categorised, altered and put together in entirely new ways.
One perspective of synthetic biology is the ability to produce DNA-units as components for mass production. The synthetic-biological techniques can be described as ‘working with construction bricks’, where the bricks in question are available for purchase on the Internet in the form of genetic and biological building blocks called ‘Bio Bricks’. These ‘Bio bricks’ are DNA-sequences designed for accommodating or combining with living cells in order to construct entirely new biological systems.
The ethical and societal perspectives, risk assessment and regulation
Those who work within synthetic biology represent a series of scientific disciplines, public and private funds and institutions, and complex interdisciplinary collaborations. Companies who work within synthetic biology predict an industrial fabrication of products aimed at various sectors, such as energy, combating climate changes, purification of chemical pollution, textile- and pharmaceutical production.
But the field of synthetic biology also gives rise to potential risks: Based on prior experiences with phenomena such as genetically modified plants the 21st century has been marked by a critical attitude towards biotechnological sciences. Research and development may not only lead to improvements and prudent consequences, but also to negative effects on human beings, nature, the environment, and so forth. That is to say; like many other sciences, the possibilities of intentional and unintentional harmful consequences exist. Therefore, the question is how our society can avoid using the science for harmful purposes without unfairly inhibiting the development of its beneficial purposes?
Project idea
Based on a general overview of the current state of synthetic biology in Denmark, the Danish Board of Technology and the Danish Council of Ethics aim to bring focus to the potential applications, risks and ethical questions prompted by the field. These issues will be determined and identified by an established group of relevant experts. The selected issues will be put up for debate and presented and discussed on a workshop. Finally, the debated issues will be put forward as themed articles so that they appear in an accessible and engaging form, aimed at a broad national debate about the overall topic. The project will describe and discuss some of the perspectives and challenges prompted by synthetic biology, and it will launch a debate about the societal consequences and opportunities for democratic handling, ethical reflection and risk regulation as well.
Members of the group of experts
- Birger Lindberg Møller, Faculty of Life Sciences, University of Copenhagen
- Gunna Christiansen, The Danish Council of Ethics
- Maja Horst, Department of Organisation, Copenhagen Business School
- Jakob Vedelsby, freelance journalist
- Morten Andreasen, The Danish Council of Ethics
- Steen Rasmussen, Department of Physics and Chemistry, University of Southern Denmark
- Thomas Breck, Center of Risk Communication
- Sune Holm, Institute of Philosophy, University of Copenhagen