Editorial: Ambivalences in Societal and Philosophical Dimensions of Synthetic Biology

Hagen, Kristin; Engelhard, Margret; Toepfer, Georg

doi:10.1007/978-3-319-21088-9_1

Cited by 7 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…Since Aristotle's works have been received, the word 'life' is seen as homonymous and useful for integrative purposes as well. It serves as an umbrella concept and cannot be reduced to a scientific meaning only ( [47], p. 267; [50], p. 255; [61]; [62], p. 4; [107], p. 278; [111], pp. [83][84][85].…”

Section: Life Is Not Life: Aristotle's Wide Concept Of Life and The Cmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…On the other hand, it also bears a methodical function which we want to label Burstword II: The wide understanding of life-literally-can help to detonate narrowness in current research, where a disciplinary and/or conceptual tunnel view is not appropriate to the envisaged object or problem. In this second, methodological sense, 'life' as Burstword II is closely linked to transdisciplinarity as a general research principle-as it has been defined by Mittelstraß [87] and has been discussed in general [66] as well as in the specific context of synthetic biology [61,62,106].…”

Section: Life Is Not Life: Aristotle's Wide Concept Of Life and The Cmentioning

confidence: 99%

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From Buzz to Burst—Critical Remarks on the Term ‘Life’ and Its Ethical Implications in Synthetic Biology

et al. 2019

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In this paper, we examine the use of the term 'life' in the debates within and about synthetic biology. We review different positions within these debates, focusing on the historical background, the constructive epistemology of laboratory research and the pros and cons of metaphorical speech. We argue that 'life' is used as buzzword, as folk concept, and as theoretical concept in inhomogeneous ways. Extending beyond the review of the significant literature, we also argue that 'life' can be understood as a Burstword in two concrete senses. Firstly, terms such as life easily turn into fuzzy, foggy and buzzy clouds of nonsense, if their use is not appropriately reflected. In these cases, the semantic orientation is detonated. This is the Burstword I characteristic of the concept of 'life' that we reveal for its unclear terminological use. Secondly, and in contrast to Burstword I, we show that the concept of 'life' can be used in a methodologically controlled way. We call this kind of use Burstword II.Here the concept of 'life' fulfils the function of expanding an inadequately narrow disciplinary or conceptual focus in different discursive contexts. In this second sense, 'life' receives an important operational function, for instance as a transdisciplinary research principle. It turns out that the innovative function and paradigm-changing power of metaphorical speech belong here as well. Finally, we illustrate three ethically relevant examples that show how 'life' can be applied as Burstword II in the context of synthetic biology. Keywords Life . Synthetic biology . Metaphors of life . Life as metaphor . Ethics of synthetic biology . Buzzword . Burstword From Review to Reaction: IntroductionAs a subdiscipline of biology (the natural science of life), synthetic biology engages by definition with 'life' and its metaphors. What makes it special and new is its constructive, engineering approach. It can be said that the groundbreaking aim of synthetic biology is, as Ruiz-Mirazo and Moreno put it, 'to learn more about the living by means of re-construction or fabricating it-in contrast to the analytical-descriptive work that has, so far, been the most important way of generation knowledge in biology' ([97], p. 378). It is exactly this combination-the engineering attitude and certain life forms as its objects-that raises a lot of questions and especially engenders ethical criticism. The special ethical relevance of synthetic biology is supposed to be

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Section: Life Is Not Life: Aristotle's Wide Concept Of Life and The Cmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Life Is Not Life: Aristotle's Wide Concept Of Life and The Cmentioning

confidence: 99%

From Buzz to Burst—Critical Remarks on the Term ‘Life’ and Its Ethical Implications in Synthetic Biology

et al. 2019

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“…In this work, we do not intend to detail the points of view of all the summer school's participants on synbio-those are described in a dedicated book [2]but rather to point out and comment on some challenging issues on the perception of synbio by non-synthetic biologist attendees as noticed by synthetic biologists, as well as some problematic perceptions by synthetic biologists pointed out by non-synthetic biologist attendees (summarized in Table 1). This necessity stems from (i) an observed lack of technical understanding of synbio by several scholars, which led to biased evaluations and uncritical debates regarding potential risks and benefits of synbio, and (ii) an evidently flawed communication from synthetic biologists, coupled to a failure to consider the broader implications of their work.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…Many definitions are in circulation, 1 one of the most common being Bthe design and construction of novel artificial biological pathways, organisms or devices, or the redesign of existing natural biological systems^. 2 Synbio is considered as an emerging technology, among nanotechnology, stem cell research, artificial intelligence, 3D printing, geoengineering, etc. Such technologies are often stated to have the potential of solving global issues pertaining to health, energy security and environment protection, but their premature application is associated with perceived risks.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Misconceptions of Synthetic Biology: Lessons from an Interdisciplinary Summer School

et al. 2016

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In 2014, an international group of scholars from various fields analysed the Bsocietal dimensionsô f synthetic biology in an interdisciplinary summer school. Here, we report and discuss the biologists' observations on the general perception of synthetic biology by non-biologists who took part in this event. Most attendees mainly associated synthetic biology with contributions from the best-known public figures of the field, rarely mentioning other scientists. Media extrapolations of those contributions appeared to have created unrealistic expectations and irrelevant fears that were widely disconnected from the current research in synthetic biology. Another observation was that when debating developments in synthetic biology, semantics strongly mattered: depending on the terms used to present an application of synthetic biology, attendees reacted in radically different ways. For example, using the term BGMOs^(genetically modified organisms) rather than the term Bgenetic engineering^led to very different reactions. Stimulating debates also happened with participants having unanticipated points of view, for instance biocentrist ethicists who argued that engineered microbes should not be used for human purposes. Another communication challenge emerged from the connotations and inaccuracies surrounding the word Blife^, which impaired constructive debates, thus leading to misconceptions about the abilities of scientists to engineer or even create living organisms. Finally, it appeared that synthetic biologists tend to overestimate the knowledge of non-biologists, further affecting communication. The motivation and ability of synthetic biologists to communicate their work outside their research field needs to be fostered, notably towards policymakers who need a more accurate and technical understanding of the field to make informed decisions. Interdisciplinary events gathering scholars working in and around synthetic biology are an effective tool in addressing those issues.

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“…Participants at the summer school (upon which this special section is based) constituted a highly heterogeneous group with representatives from (synthetic) biology, social sciences and the humanities. 3 Individual contributions from the participants were revised on the basis of their experiences during the summer school and brought together in an edited book [12]. Two of the contributions to this special section were also authored by individual participants.…”

Section: Introduction To the Special Sectionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Inter- and Transdisciplinary Interfaces in Synthetic Biology

Seitz

Hagen²

2016

Nanoethics

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Editorial: Ambivalences in Societal and Philosophical Dimensions of Synthetic Biology

Cited by 7 publications

References 19 publications

From Buzz to Burst—Critical Remarks on the Term ‘Life’ and Its Ethical Implications in Synthetic Biology

From Buzz to Burst—Critical Remarks on the Term ‘Life’ and Its Ethical Implications in Synthetic Biology

Misconceptions of Synthetic Biology: Lessons from an Interdisciplinary Summer School

Inter- and Transdisciplinary Interfaces in Synthetic Biology

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