Synthetic Biology: a new engineering science and its societal - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Synthetic Biology: a new engineering science and its societal implications

Dirk Stemerding Science Café Wageningen 16 Sept 2013

Synthetic Biology: a new engineering science and its societal implications – Science Café Wageningen 16 Sept 2013

SynBio debate

• 1. SynBio debate about innovation, risk and issues of power & control
• 2. Responsible research and innovation (RRI)
• 3. SynBio Mobilisation and Mutual Learning Action Plan (SYNENERGENE)

Synthetic Biology: a new engineering science and its societal implications – Science Café Wageningen 16 Sept 2013

A variety of concerns

SynBio Innovation

Revolutionalizing biotechnology Area in which Europe should invest to tackle societal needs, promote ‘smart’ and ‘sustainable’ growth, and raise global competitive status

GMO biosafety assessment? A new biosecurity threat? Patents

• r
• pen source?

Ethics of engineering life?

Synthetic Biology: a new engineering science and its societal implications – Science Café Wageningen 16 Sept 2013

GMO biosafety assessment?

For the time being current biosafety regime appropriate, but will have to face:

• New uncertainties as a result of increasing complexity

and unfamiliarity of synbio research and applications

• Major challenges when moving from containment to

deliberate release

• Incorporating precautionary principles

as a basic value?

• Ethics of not developing SynBio?

Synthetic Biology: a new engineering science and its societal implications – Science Café Wageningen 16 Sept 2013

A new biosecurity threat?

Changing political context and aim of SynBio to make biology ‘easy to engineer’ raise new dual use issues:

• Global proliferation and distribution of knowledge makes
• versight increasingly difficult
• Need to raise awareness among scientists
• Need for institutional capacity to monitor and assess

biosecurity implications of new science and technology

Synthetic Biology: a new engineering science and its societal implications – Science Café Wageningen 16 Sept 2013

Patenting or

• pen source?

Potential tension between two different intellectual property regimes:

• As an engineering science

based on ‘standardized parts’ SynBio aims at a high level of freedom to operate

• Where to draw the line between

public versus private ownership

• f parts and design principles?
• ‘Unnaturalness’ of its creations

might make it easier to patent SynBio products!

Synthetic Biology: a new engineering science and its societal implications – Science Café Wageningen 16 Sept 2013

Ethics of engineering life?

Life as a machine that can be instrumentalized and appropriated: adding a “new layer of power to nature”

• SynBio as ‘technological fix’, promoting

new forms of exploitation of natural resources and communities?

• Aim of controlling and (re)designing life

as a sign of human hubris

Synthetic Biology: a new engineering science and its societal implications – Science Café Wageningen 16 Sept 2013

Comfortable division of labour?

SynBio Innovation Agenda

Health Food Energy Materials

Ethical Legal Social Implications

Synthetic Biology: a new engineering science and its societal implications – Science Café Wageningen 16 Sept 2013

Engaging civil society in SynBio innovation

Free download at: www.rathenau.nl/synbio

Synthetic Biology: a new engineering science and its societal implications – Science Café Wageningen 16 Sept 2013

Meeting of Young Minds (2011)

iGEM students in debate with Political Youth Organisations

Do we really know how to perfect nature?

Synthetic Biology: a new engineering science and its societal implications – Science Café Wageningen 16 Sept 2013

A new collaborative relationship?

RRI is a transparent, Interactive process by which societal actors and innovators become mutually responsive to each other with a view to the (ethical) acceptability, sustainability and societal desirability of the innovation process (in order to allow a proper embedding of scientific and technological advances in our society)

Synthetic Biology: a new engineering science and its societal implications – Science Café Wageningen 16 Sept 2013

Engaging with science and technology:

responsible governance of the science and society relationship

Synthetic Biology: a new engineering science and its societal implications – Science Café Wageningen 16 Sept 2013

• International Genetically

Engineered Machines competition

• From 5 teams in 2004 to 170

teams in 2012 (30 countries)

• Three-months projects but
• ften impressive results
• Human practices

Synthetic Biology: a new engineering science and its societal implications – Science Café Wageningen 16 Sept 2013

SynBio Futures

• Annual calls for promising contributions of iGEM teams to societally

desirable themes of innovation

• Elaboration of promising project ideas in application scenarios
• Real-time technology assessment of application scenarios, involving

relevant stakeholders, publics and policy makers

• Outcomes are made available through publications and to European

and national research councils

Athena Institute