2020 chapter
Synthetic Biology: Perspectives on Risk Analysis, Governance, Communication, and ELSI
In Risk, Systems and Decisions.
Synthetic biology is a technology with incredible promise yet equally galling uncertainty. The United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity defines synthetic biology as “biotechnology that combines science, technology, and engineering to facilitate and accelerate the understanding, design, redesign, manufacture, and/or modification of genetic materials, living organisms, and biological systems” (Convention of Biological Diversity). Synthetic biology can produce entirely new organisms, some of which may pose risks to naturally existing ecosystems. While humans have been selectively breeding plants and animals for millennia, synthetic biology and its enabling technologies allow combining genetic material from organisms that cannot procreate in nature and grant more deliberate and precise control over the selection of genetic processes.