Arpan Ganguli

As synthetic biology develops into a promising science and engineering field, we need to have clear ideas and priorities regarding its safety, security, ethical and public dialogue implications. Based on an extensive literature search, interviews with scientists, social scientists, a 4 week long public e-forum, and consultation with several stakeholders from science, industry and civil society organisations, we compiled a list of priority topics regarding societal issues of synthetic biology for the years ahead. The points presented here are intended to encourage all stakeholders to engage in the prioritisation of these issues and to participate in a continuous dialogue, with the ultimate goal of providing a basis for a multi-stakeholder governance in synthetic biology. Here we show possible ways to solve the challenges to synthetic biology in the field of safety, security, ethics and the science-public interface.

As part of the SYNBIOSAFE project, we carried out an open electronic conference (e-conference), with the aim to stimulate an open debate on the societal issues of synthetic biology in a proactive way. The e-conference attracted 124 registered participants from 23 different countries and different professional backgrounds, who wrote 182 contributions in six different categories: (I) Ethics; (II) Safety; (III) Security; (IV) IPR; (V) Governance and regulation; (VI) and Public perception. In this paper we discuss the main arguments brought up during the e-conference and provide our conclusions about how the community thinks, and thinks differently on the societal impact of synthetic biology. Finally we conclude that there is a chance for an open discourse on the societal issues of synthetic biology happening, and that the rules to govern such a discourse might be set up much easier and be respected more readily than many would suggest.

The projects and aims of synthetic biology raise various ethical questions, challenging some of our basic moral concepts. This chapter addresses these issues in three steps. First, we present an overview of different types of ethical issues related to synthetic biology by assigning them to three main categories: method-related, application-related, and distribution-related issues. The first category concerns the procedure and aims of synthetic biology, the second deals with certain planned applications of synthetic biology and the third with questions of distribution and access to procedures and products of this technology. Next, we address a statement often raised in the discussion about ethics of synthetic biology, namely that the ethical issues of synthetic biology have been discussed in previous debates and therefore do not need to be addressed again. We argue that past debates do not render the discussion of ethical issues superfluous because synthetic biology sets these issues in a new context and because the discussion of such issues fulfills in itself an important function, namely by stimulating thought about our relationship to technology and nature. Furthermore, given that synthetic biology’s aims go beyond those of previous technologies, we suggest that it does in fact raise novel ethical issues. Finally, we present opinions of European synthetic biologists on ethical issues in their field. At such an early stage of technological development, synthetic biologists play an important role in the assessment of their discipline, and are best placed to estimate the scientific potential of the field. In an attempt to capture the intuitions of the European synthetic biology community, we have carried out interviews, the results of which we briefly summarize in this last section. By presenting an overview of the various ethical issues and their actual and perceived importance, this chapter aims at providing a first outline for the agenda for an ethics of synthetic biology.