Dec 3 2008
Synthetic biology promises to enable cheap, lifesaving new drugs to treat
the 350-500 million people who suffer from malaria, and to create innovative
biofuels that can help solve the world's energy problems. But the science and
its applications are raising questions: Are synthetic biologists playing God?
Are these scientists purposely changing the definition of what is life? Are
synthetic biology researchers unintentionally equipping terrorists with frightening
new biological weapons? And will synthetic biology's expected products and profits
be stymied by policymakers and the public who object to researchers' soon-to-be-realized
attempts to build life from scratch in a lab?
Arthur Caplan, director of the Center for Bioethics at the University of Pennsylvania,
will explore unresolved synthetic biology ethical questions at a January 8 program
with Project on Emerging
Nanotechnologies Chief Science Advisor Andrew Maynard. Dr. Caplan is at
the forefront of ethicists, theologians, scientists, engineers, government leaders
and civil society groups working to weigh synthetic biology's potential risks
and benefits.
Caplan is the author or editor of 25 books and over 500 articles in professional
medical, science and bioethics journals. He has served on a number of national
and international committees including as chair of the National Cancer Institute
Biobanking Ethics Group, and chair of the Advisory Committee to the United Nations
on Human Cloning. His most recent book is Smart Mice, Not So Smart People (Rowman
Littlefield, 2006).
The Rathenau Instituut, a unit of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and
Sciences (KNAW), describes synthetic biology as the convergence of molecular
biology, information technology and nanotechnology, leading to the systematic
design of biological systems. The U.S. is considered the world leader in this
emerging field of science. Some estimate that by 2015, a fifth of the chemical
industry (worth $1.8 trillion) could be dependent on synthetic biology.
To attend this event, RSVP to [email protected]. No RSVP is required to
view the Web cast.