Ethical Perspectives on Synthetic Biology

Ethical Debates on Synthetic Biology

Background: As an emerging interdisciplinary area of science with a multitude of potential facilities and applications, synthetic biology integrates different disciplines with one another ranging from basic science to engineering. This interdisciplinary branch therefore encompasses sciences that require specific development and ethical approaches. Materials and Methods: Science management princ...

Engineering and ethical perspectives in synthetic biology

Synthetic biology has emerged as an exciting and promising new research field, garnering significant attention from both the scientific community and the general public. This interest results from a variety of striking features: synthetic biology is a truly interdisciplinary field that engages biologists, mathematicians, physicists and engineers; its research focus is applied; and it has enormo...

Ecological perspectives on synthetic biology: insights from microbial population biology

The metabolic capabilities of microbes are the basis for many major biotechnological advances, exploiting microbial diversity by selection or engineering of single strains. However, there are limits to the advances that can be achieved with single strains, and attention has turned toward the metabolic potential of consortia and the field of synthetic ecology. The main challenge for the syntheti...

Synthetic Biology: social and ethical challenges

Synthetic Biology Takes on Zika.

By the time public health officials implement infrastructure to deal with an outbreak, the threat has often passed. This could change with innovation on a new diagnostic work flow and platform designed by Jim Collins, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Many innovators develop a novel assay and stop there. When Collins, a design thinker, explores a new novel assay, h...