The ethics of Synthetic Biology and the Creation of new organisms or Biological systems

1. The Ethics of
Synthetic Biology
and the Creation of
New Organisms or
Biological Systems
Veronica Baje
MS Biology 1

2. Synthetic
Biology and its
Milestones

3. What is Synthetic
Biology?
• Synthetic biology is that branch of research and
development that applies rational design principles to
produce novel biological systems, organisms, or
components de novo, or that contributes in a direct and
significant way to their production through the novel
development of materials, technologies or processes.
• It is an emerging discipline stemming from advances in
genetic engineering

4. Milestones
2010
Synchronized bacterial
oscillators
Synthetic mycoplasma
genome
2011
Phage-based continuous
evolution
Bacterial growth in
stripe patterns
2012
DNA used for data
storage
Refactored nitrogen
fixation cluster
Whole cell simulation of
a mycoplasma
2013
Biosynthetic production
of astemisinin
Genomically recorded
E.coli
2014
Bacteria that sense and
record in the gut
Cell-free paper-based
sensors and logic
E.coli engineered with 6
bases of DNA, Synthesis
of a yeast chromosome
2015
E.coli dependent on
synthetic amino acid
Biosynthesis of opioids
from yeast
2016
In vivo event recorders,
Synthesis of a reduced
mycoplasma genome
Cello CAD for E.coli logic
gates
2017
Synthesis of 5 more
yeast chromosomes
CRISPR-based rapid
diagnosis
2018
CAR-T cells with logic
control, Yeast with
synthetically fused
chromosomes
Self-organizing
multicellular structures
2019
Full synthesis of E.coli
genome Carbon fixation
in engineered E.coli
Gene circuits with
designed proteins,
Synthetic production of
cannabinoids

5. The Purpose of Synthetic
Biology

6. The Ethical
Concerns of
Synthetic
Biology

7. Ethical Concerns
• Concerns about playing “God”
• May result in the creation of entities which fall
somewhere between living things and machines
• May create a reductionist conception of life and its
value
• Misuse—states or terrorist groups without access
to wild-type viruses might acquire the ability to
create human pathogens for use in biological
weapons

8. Conclusion

10. References
• A.M. Calladine, R. ter Meulen, Synthetic Biology, Encyclopedia of Applied Ethics (Second Edition), Academic Press, 2012, Pages 281-
288, ISBN 9780123739322, https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-373932-2.00429-4.
• Srinivasan Ganesh Kumar, Ashok Ganesan, Shashi Kumar, Chapter 21 - Synthetic biology for smart drug biosynthesis and delivery, New
Frontiers and Applications of Synthetic Biology, Academic Press, 2022, Pages 349-360, ISBN 9780128244692,
https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-824469-2.00005-1
• Douglas T, Savulescu J. Synthetic biology and the ethics of knowledge. J Med Ethics. 2010 Nov;36(11):687-93. doi:
10.1136/jme.2010.038232. Epub 2010 Oct 8. PMID: 20935316; PMCID: PMC3045879.
• Kolisis N, Kolisis F. Synthetic Biology: Old and New Dilemmas-The Case of Artificial Life. BioTech (Basel). 2021 Jul 20;10(3):16. doi:
10.3390/biotech10030016. PMID: 35822770; PMCID: PMC9245477.
• Meng, F., Ellis, T. The second decade of synthetic biology: 2010–2020. Nat Commun 11, 5174 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-
020-19092-2
• Boldt, Joachim, 'Creating Life: Synthetic Biology and Ethics', in Gregory E. Kaebnick, and Thomas H. Murray (eds), Synthetic Biology and
Morality: Artificial Life and the Bounds of Nature (Cambridge, MA, 2013; online edn, MIT Press Scholarship Online, 23 Jan. 2014),
https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/9780262019392.003.0003