CGS : Eric Hoffman on a Very Discreet Newcomer: Synthetic Biology

Synthetic biology was one of the themes discussed at the Assises du vivant, a forum organized jointly by UNESCO and the French NGO Vivagora in Paris on 30 November. Synthetic biology is still in its infancy but it has great ambitions: to create entirely new life forms. Borrowing techniques from engineering, the synthetic biologist assembles different parts (genes) to build an entirely new circuit. At the Assises du vivant, one proponent suggested that synthetic bacteria could be designed to glow whenever they detected explosives in the soil, alerting to buried anti-personnel mines. Others cited the potential for synthetic biofuels, biodegradable plastics and cancer drugs. But some participants were more circumspect. ‘Have the necessary safeguards been put in place? ‘, they asked. ‘Could existing organisms not fulfill the same role? Do we know how existing species will interact with these new life forms of our own creation? And what guarantee is there that they will function in the way we intended? We put these questions to Eric Hoffman, a science and technology policy expert with the US branch of the NGO Friends of the Earth.

This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of biotechnology and public policy issues. We believe this constitutes a 'fair use' of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use', you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.