Social and ethical aspects of Synthetic Biology (SB) in Europe

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Social and ethical aspects of Synthetic Biology
(SB) in Europe

• Markus Schmidt
• Organisation for International Dialogue and
  Conflict Management?
• Vienna, Austria

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Subfields of contemporary SB
1. DNA Synthesis
2. DNA based bio-circuits
3. Minimal genome
4. Protocells
5. Chemical SB/Xenobiology
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Synbio publications USA-Europe
Source www.gopubmed.com, searchterm synthetic
biology
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Synbio research funding in Europe
Pei L, Gaisser S, Schmidt M (2010) Synthetic
Biology in the view of European public funding
organisations. Submitted
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(Ethics) Councils in Europe on SB

• UK
• SB not considered relevant for the Nuffield
  Council of Bioethics (in 2006/07/08)
• Germany
• DFG-Acatech-Leopoldina statement (2009)
• Ethics Council to the German Parliament (2009)
• German Ethics Council (Deutscher Ethikrat)
  (2009/10)
• Switzerland
• Federal Ethics Committee on Non-Human
  Biotechnology (2009/10)
• Netherlands
• Commission on Genetic Modification (COGEM)
  (2007-2009)

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European Commission

• European Group on Ethics in Science and New
  Technologies (EGE) (2008/09)
• Opinion paper Ethics of synthetic biology
• 26 recommendations
• Biosafety risk assessment procedure
• Caution with environmental release
• Consumer rights, explore labelling
• Biosafety standards for SB product import-export
• Governance of SB in global fora
• Patents - open access clarifications
• Promote public debate and engagement
• Media promote responsible reporting on SB and
  its implications
• Properly support basic research and ELSI work
• Stimulate philosophical and religious debate

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Projects on societal and ethical aspects of
Synbio in Europe
ESF SYNMOD
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Colonizing the ELSI space in Europe
DNA synthesis DNA-based biocircuits Minimal genome Proto-cells Chemical SB - Xenobiology
Biosecurity
Biosafety
Ethics
IPR
Science/Society
Governance
Anthropology
Socio-economics
Philosophy
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SYNBIOSAFE safety and ethical aspects of SB

• Ethics
• Related to its applications (e.g. human
  enhancement)
• Related to its distribution (e.g. biofuel
  production)
• Related to the procedure as such (e.g. status of
  living machines)
• Biosafety
• How to assess risks from new SB products,
  functions and systems?
• How can we improve safety through SB biosafety
  engineering?
• What happens if non-professionals (amateurs,
  hackers) start using SB?

Schmidt M, Ganguli-Mitra A, Torgersen H, Kelle A,
Deplazes A Biller-Andorno N. 2009. A Priority
Paper for the Societal and Ethical Aspects of
Synthetic Biology. Systems and Synthic Biology
Vol.3(1-4)1-2
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Documentary film
www.synbiosafe.eu
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TARPOL
TARPOL Targeting environmental pollution with
engineered microbial systems à la carte
source Schmidt et al. 2010. Synthetic biology
applications in environmental biotechnology.
Forthcoming
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COSY Communicating Synthetic Biology
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Press articles about SB in German language media
(cumulative)
Torgersen H. et al. 2010. Communicating Synthetic
Biology (COSY) - Final Report. www.synbio.at
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Analysing information flow
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Focus groups neutral opinions at first...
-
Torgersen H. et al. 2010. Communicating Synthetic
Biology (COSY) - Final Report. www.synbio.at
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....but after reading about SB polarized opinions
-
Torgersen H. et al. 2010. Communicating Synthetic
Biology (COSY) - Final Report. www.synbio.at
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Synbio Science, Art and Film FestivalAustria,
Vienna
www.bio-fiction.com
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Thanks!
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