Principal Investigators:Gregory Kaebnick, Thomas H. Murray, and Erik Parens  

Funder:The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation

Purpose

Synthetic biology approaches the goals of genetic engineering from the other end: instead of simply modifying existing biological systems, it seeks to build new systems  from the ground up. In theory, these systems could have characteristics that have never been found in existing biological systems, and they would serve the precisely specified purposes of their creators.

 This project seeks to accomplish four principal goals:

1. Identify, articulate, and critique arguments concerning nonphysical moral concerns in relation to synthetic biology.
2. Examine the philosophical and legal bases for incorporating concerns about nonphysical moral concerns into public discourse and public policy.
3. Identify and evaluate the possible good and bad consequences for human welfare, broadly considered, posed by synthetic biology in its varied manifestations.
4. Develop a set of general moral considerations to inform policy discourse and public policy toward synthetic biology.

Key Issues

Synthetic biology might take the genetic engineering techniques first developed in the 1970s many steps forward. Using techniques from molecular biology, computer science, and engineering, synthetic biology aims to create wholly new genetic recipes (and ingredients) that the older approaches simply could not cook up. More effective medicines, intelligent tumorseeking bacteria, and cheap biofuels are just a few of the hoped-for applications—while new weapons of terror are one of the fears.

This rapidly advancing technology raises ethical questions about benefits and harms that have not been thoroughly addressed. Some of these are concrete physical worries, akin to the safety and security concerns first identified with the invention of recombinant DNA technology. Other concerns tap into “nonphysical” concerns—our inner instincts about what is natural, and what is our relationship to the natural world, as well as scientific freedom, justice and access to the benefits of technology, and intellectual property rights.

Earlier work at the Center highlighted the need for deeper investigation into these nonphysical moral concerns, and what role they should play in public policy. “We have come up against similar problems in other domains—most notably, in work on nanotechnology and gene transfer technology—but synthetic biology poses them especially sharply and pressingly,” said Thomas H. Murray, PhD, president of The Hastings Center and one of the project leaders.

The new project includes three meetings with presentations by an interdisciplinary working group including scientists, philosophers, social scientists, public policy experts, and theologians.

In addition to Murray, participants from The Hastings Center include Erik Parens, PhD, senior scholar; Gregory Kaebnick, PhD, scholar and editor of the Hastings Center Report; and Mary Crowley, director of public affairs and communications. Roger Brent, PhD, president and research director of The Molecular Sciences Institute at the University of California, San Francisco, is science advisor.

The Center’s work will contribute to an initiative by the Sloan Foundation that supports a comprehensive look at synthetic biology. The other participants are the J. Craig Venter Institute, which will explore a range of societal concerns surrounding synthetic biology; and the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, which will work with the scientific community and stakeholders in government, nongovernmental organizations, and the larger public to ensure that the public and policymakers are informed, and that risks are minimized. 

Intended Products

The project is designed to make serious contributions to the scholarly and scientific literature on synthetic biology, as well as engage science journalists on the issue. Products include:

• a set of essays on the development of synthetic biology and on the ethical concerns it raises;
• a special journal issue or a volume of essays emerging from the Working Group’s presentations and discussions; and
• articles and commentaries laying out on ethical issues in synthetic biology.