The Conception of Life in Synthetic Biology

Deplazes‐Zemp, Anna

doi:10.1007/s11948-011-9269-z

Cited by 30 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 44 publications

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“…[59][60][61] Although there is some overlap, there is a set of similar but often not congruent lists, each of them trying to comprehensively define life. While the fundamental question of what life is and how it can be defined has occupied mankind for centuries it is hitherto one of the leading research questions to pave the way for a better scientific understanding of the origins of life and living matter.…”

Section: Synthetic Biology: At Least Safe and Sound?mentioning

confidence: 99%

(Re‐)Designing Nature? An Overview and Outlook on the Ethical and Societal Challenges in Synthetic Biology

Braun

Fernau

2019

Adv. Biosys.

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to provide an initial systematization of the ethical and socio-scientific debate on SB by structuring and categorizing issues that have been widely discussed and debated in recent years. The investigation included international ethical and societal research on SB, covering the period from January 2010 to December 2017. Even though we are aware that there have been several developments before it was referred to as SB, [6] this sample period was selected as the experiments of Craig Venter and his team in the year 2010 marked the birth of broader public and scientific attention to SB, as well as the rise and further establishment of SB as a distinct research discipline.We predefined five main fields of ethical research in order to map the scope of the respective debates. These fields were based on theoretical presuppositions informed by our preliminary theoretical and empirical research and the resulting experiences within the field of ethical and societal challenges of SB. The five fields are: 1) the definition and scope of possible applications; 2) questions of biosafety and -security; 3) the impact of SB on taken-for-granted cultural perceptions and values; 4) SB as a new mode of public participation in science; 5) issues of sustainable governance and Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI). With these five fields in mind, we searched for relevant articles on Scopus and PubMed. These are two of the largest international research databases, which cover a broad spectrum of ethical and socio-scientific work within the context of biotechnologies. The selected search term was "synthetic biology" in combination with several distinctive codes, which can be assigned to the aforementioned predefined main fields of ethical research ( Table 1).In general, our literature analysis has several methodological limitations. As it is not a comprehensive systematic literature review, it does not provide a broad set of quantitative data scrutinizing all debates, issues and questions on the ethical and societal challenges in SB. Nevertheless, our analysis provides a structured overview on and an initial systematization of the most relevant topics within the discussion on SB in recent years. Additionally, this article aims to provide an analysis and discussion of the current state of play of ethical and societal issues in SB.The first section is concerned with the question of a possible definition of SB and the issue of how we could describe and analyze its technological progress with regard to ethical and societal challenges. As one frequent debate of the last few This structured literature analysis aims to map the current, emerging, and predicted future of synthetic biology (SB) by putting the focus on the implied conceptual, societal, and ethical challenges. The central objective of the analysis is to provide an initial systematization of the ethical and socio-scientific debate on SB by structuring and categorizing widely discussed issues within the debate in recent years. Starting with the quest for possible definitions, issues ...

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Section: Synthetic Biology: At Least Safe and Sound?mentioning

confidence: 99%

(Re‐)Designing Nature? An Overview and Outlook on the Ethical and Societal Challenges in Synthetic Biology

Braun

Fernau

2019

Adv. Biosys.

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“…Th e synth-ethic exhibition catalogue made explicit that the new technoscience called synthetic biology challenges our ethical approach toward biotechnology by applying engineering principles in biology. Synthetic biologists intend not only to understand life better but also to utilize it in applications to minimize and optimize, to variegate and transcend life, to design and to standardize it [21]. [7].…”

Section: Disciplinar Y Boundariesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Splicing Boundaries: The Experiences of Bioart Exhibition Visitors

Kerbe

Schmidt

2015

Leonardo

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Bioart can cross the line between the scientific domain and that of arts and may touch the boundary between the living and the nonliving. This study addresses how visitors to a bioart exhibition experienced the hybrid aspects of this form of art. Semi-structured interviews were held with 119 visitors to the synth-ethic exhibition in Vienna, Austria, in May and June 2011. Analysis shows that for a majority of visitors the use of bacteria and lower organisms does not pose an ethical problem, whereas integration of higher animals or even humans into the artwork is not readily accepted.

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“…More than researchers in most other types of biology, synthetic biologists like to emphasize that they wish to contribute to the understanding of life [15]. In many commentaries on synthetic biology, the authors point out that this field will change how we see life.…”

Section: Synthetic Biology Provides One Of Many Possible Explanationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Different Understandings of Life as an Opportunity to Enrich the Debate About Synthetic Biology

2015

Self Cite

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Comments and reports on synthetic biology often focus on the idea that this field may lead to synthetic life or life forms. Such claims attract general attention because Blife^is a basic concept that is understood, interpreted and explained in multiple ways. While these different understandings of life may influence the ethical assessment of synthetic biology by experts and the public, this field might, in turn, influence how academics or the public view life. We suggest in this paper that synthetic biology provides an opportunity to discuss and compare different views and explanations of the world, starting from the concept of life. We argue that a narrow focus on just one interpretation of this concept may be harmful and that people will benefit from being aware of a diversity of understandings of life because they provide answers to different questions. Moreover, the confrontation among views is important for the development of reasoning abilities, and a nuanced view on our world will be useful for integrating scientific findings and their implications into a wider context. At the same time, we should not only consider other understandings of life for our own benefit but also because a moral attitude of respect for and toleration toward others implies permission to express and maintain their views. For these reasons, we suggest that a diversity of views on life should be included in public education and in public engagement events on synthetic biology. Moreover, they should be on the research agenda of technology assessment studies within the ELSA or RRI frameworks.

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The Conception of Life in Synthetic Biology

Cited by 30 publications

References 44 publications

(Re‐)Designing Nature? An Overview and Outlook on the Ethical and Societal Challenges in Synthetic Biology

(Re‐)Designing Nature? An Overview and Outlook on the Ethical and Societal Challenges in Synthetic Biology

Splicing Boundaries: The Experiences of Bioart Exhibition Visitors

Different Understandings of Life as an Opportunity to Enrich the Debate About Synthetic Biology

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