The Burrill Report


Synthetic biologists envision a future in which human-engineered organisms and biological systems revolutionize the production of clean energy, new vaccines, and smarter manufacturing processes. Now, the U.S. government's taken a first pass at establishing ground rules for the scientific quest to create life from scratch calling for transparency, vigilance, and fairness as the field develops.

In the new report, the Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues calls for funding reviews, environmental controls, and even a federal threat assessment of synthetic biology's security and safety risks. It entertains the idea of regulating the field, but only pending further debate.

The dreams of synthetic biologists took a step closer to reality in May when scientists at the J. Craig Venter Institute created the world's first self-replicating genome in a bacterial cell. Following a global cry of excitement and worry sparked by the feat, President Obama called for the commission to study the implications of the new milestone.

The commission’s report says Venter Institute's work, while extraordinary, “does not constitute the creation of life, the likelihood of which still remains remote for the foreseeable future.”

The report drew criticism from a group of 58 environmental, agricultural, and bioethics watchdogs who accuse the commission of failing to recommend “real regulation or oversight,” lacking adequate concern for the environmental risks of synthetic biology, and ignoring the precautionary principle, an internationally recognized idea that urges precautionary measures whenever an activity raises threats of harm to human health or the environment.

The commission’s work is clearly not done. As part of its recommendations, it called for the production of three reports within the next 18 months: an evaluation of public funding for synthetic biology activities, an assessment of oversight and accountability rules as they apply to the field, and a security and risk assessment to be prepared by the Executive Office of the President, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The group also called for a mechanism or body that should keep tabs on the field, ensure that existing regulatory requirements don't clash with each other, and keep the public apprised of its findings.

The necessity of addressing misinformation and public fear is also covered in the report with recommendations that urge the expansion of public education about synthetic biology and the establishment of a fact-checking mechanism to support the spread of accurate information.

“Ongoing dialogue about concerns regarding the implications of synthetic biology for humans, other species, nature, and the environment,” the report says, “should continue as synthetic biology develops from its infancy to a fully mature field of scientific inquiry and innovation.”



December 21, 2010
http://www.burrillreport.com/article-pondering_synthetic_biologys_future.html