Synthetic Biology Needs A Synthetic Bioethics

Ebola Needs One Bioethics

“…While it would certainly be an error to deny the importance of synthetic biology's applications, Thompson argued that the unification of these technical domains was itself ethically significant and even troubling to the extent that it invites rapid innovations by anyone having the technical expertise for manipulating the biological platform. Unlike biotechnologies (which have had their own problems, to be sure) platform technologies truly could create opportunities for 'tinkering with nature' by individuals, firms, and research groups having little to no understanding of the social or biological context in which their inventions will be realized (Thompson 2012). Thompson argues that this situation calls for a 'synthetic bioethics,' though as argued below, 'one bioethics,' might be a more suggestive and accurate term.…”

“…Whether seen in terms of biological building blocks or synthetic genomes, synthetic biology's technical significance lies in the ability to create a functioning micro-organism that can be predictably and easily transformed through the inclusion or elimination of functional genes. This would change biotechnology from a largely one-off type of innovation process, where each novel application is essentially a craft project isolated from every other application, into an industry much more like computing, where standardized platforms such as Android, iPhone, Microsoft Windows, and Apple OS X permit simultaneous innovation in highly diverse areas of the information economy (Thompson, 2012). Standardized biological platforms could be readily adaptable to drug development, environmental chemistry, biofuels, agriculture, and to areas such as personal fitness, dietetics, and cosmetics, where the costs of developing genetically engineered organisms currently precludes innovation.…”

Synthetic Biology, Deontology and Synthetic Bioethics

“…', concludes with a phrase that echoes his overall title, 'Synthetic biology needs a synthetic bioethics'. Unfortunately this is the first appearance of the phrase 'synthetic bioethics' in his text (as opposed to his title), and the only clue about what is involved is his closing sentence: 'Serious evaluation of the suggestions made in my concluding hypotheses will require a substantially broader conversation, a synthetic bioethics adequate to the platform technologies of the twenty first century' (Thompson, 2012). There is too little space to add much here by way of contribution to this broader conversation; largely the above remarks will have to suffice.…”

“…In his paper 'Synthetic biology needs a synthetic bioethics' (Thompson, 2012), Paul Thompson convincingly argues that current synthetic biology amounts to synthetic genomics, and that it comprises what he calls a 'platform technology', liable to generate innovations in a wide range of economic sectors.…”

The roles of ethics in gene drive research and governance

“…As long as a few individuals or groups accept and discharge these responsibilities, there would be no obligation for every individual bench scientist to do so. However, if no one acts on behalf of stakeholders and the public, there has been a general ethical failure on the part of the community as a whole (Thompson 2012).…”