Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Synthetic biology: opening Pandora's Box

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Synthetic biology: opening Pandora's Box

    There's a new article over at Defense One discussing concerns regarding the consequences of advances in synthetic biology for bio-warfare and bio-terrorism. The bottom line is that it's growing easier to engineer microorganisms that are functionally novel and potentially extremely dangerous.

    To Protect Ourselves From Bioweapons, We May Have to Reinvent Science Itself

    This has been a brewing concern on the minds of many biologists for a long time, but the 2011 gain of function experiments that produced air transmissible H5N1 were a wake up call.

    Of course, bio weapons are not the only things possible with synthetic biology. In the past year, scientists at Harvard and MIT built the first synthetic chromosomes:

    First synthetic yeast chromosome revealed : Nature News & Comment

    took a big step towards bringing back the woolly mammoth:

    Woolly Mammoth DNA Inserted into Elephant Cells

    And improved an engineered protein that allows the use of viruses to insert large tracts of genes into specific locations in the human genome:

    http://www.the-scientist.com/?articl...proves-CRISPR/

    With this done, germline editing of human embryos is no-longer a remote possibility. Its implementation is more hindered by ethical considerations than scientific ones:

    Genetically Engineered Babies. Germ Line Engineering with CRISPR Leads to Designer Human Embryos | MIT Technology Review

    I'm curious to hear what WABBITS think about these developments.

    Are you worried about engineered pathogens? Should there be a comprehensive strategy? Is one even possible?

    Do you think we should engineer the human germline? What if you could give your child increased resistance to cancer and viral pathogens? What if your child had a serious genetic defect? What if you could make your child smarter or stronger?

    What about bringing back extinct animals? Within the decade we will be able to make an elephant that looks a whole lot like a woolly mammoth, right down to its genes. We may also be able to bring back species that recently went extinct as a result of human activity, or reach back millions in the time line and make a chicken into a dinosaur (not kidding, there is an actual serious research project underway). Should we do this?

    What if you could have a pet bear that never grows up larger than a bear cub and looks exactly like a panda? Or a dog with the visual acuity of a human being (and a brain to process the extra information)? Or would you rather have something a little less controversial, like a plant that glows in your garden at night?

    What's exciting for you, and what crosses the line? Should government take a hands off approach until something goes wrong, or does society need to be pre-emptive and stop troubling developments before they start?

  • #2
    George Church on all the crazy stuff his lab is doing with synthetic biology:

    Comment

    Working...
    X