Synthetic biology’s ethical, legal, and social aspects 

Synthetic biology has come a long way in development and has improved throughout the years since its start, and it will continue to improve in the near future. Some people must be aware of synthetic biology’s potential consequences and benefits. In this essay, I will discuss the ethical, social, and legal aspects of synthetic biology and how it could be beneficial or harmful. One of the ethical aspects of synthetic biology that keeps reappearing is whether humanity should be able to play God/interfere with nature. Some social aspects of synthetic biology are that it benefits healthcare, in which better medicine will be created, and the development of biotechnology. Some legal aspects of synthetic biology are biosafety and biosecurity.  

The ethical aspect that keeps being brought up when discussing the ethics in synthetic biology is whether it’s ethical for people to play God. It is essential to understand that “Playing God” is when someone uses their power to decide the fate of another’s life or many lives. Peter Dabrock (2009) stated, “By contrast, overstepping boundaries actually belongs to the very nature of man, and biotechnology is qualitatively nothing new … The accusation of playing God, from his point of view, serves as a repository for reactionary conservatives, who anxiously reject the principally non-rejectable cultural duty of man to shape the world.”Essentially, He is saying that humanity has always tried to cross boundaries and that people that use the accusation of playing God are just someone who rejects change. This means that we are already crossing boundaries, so why stop now? Biotechnology isn’t different from other technologies we’ve created. This gives the readers the understanding that synthetic biology itself isn’t “Playing God,” but how you use it could be considered playing God.

Some of the legal aspects that come with synthetic biology as it continues to improve are security and safety. It is essential to understand that biosafety is the use of safety measures that limit the exposure of workers to potentially infectious microbes and, ultimately, protect the community from contamination. Also, biosecurity is about preventing disease-causing agents from entering or leaving places that might pose a threat. It is also essential to know the disadvantages of synthetic biology in order to set plans to prevent the damage it causes/prevent someone from misusing the technology. As stated by Douglas et al. (2010), Essentially, They are comparing nuclear technology and synthetic biology. The first comparison is that nuclear technology “ is likely to remain bulky and expensive.” At the same time, “bioweapons may become quite portable and cheap,” and the second comparison is that nuclear technology is classified and confidential from the outset while synthetic biology is already in the public domain. They also said “that it would be a bold move indeed to disregard the possibility of dual-use dilemmas arising in synthetic biology.” (Douglas et al., 2010, paragraph 24). This means that synthetic biology will eventually be advanced enough to be cheap, which could allow a lot more people 6to use this technology. Since this technology is already in the public domain, anyone can access it. This sort of environment could potentially be taken advantage of, which could lead to thousands of deaths if disregarded. As stated by R J Jackson (2001), they accidentally created a vaccine-resistant strain of the mousepox virus, killing 100% of the infected mice. This result could help you realize the potential disadvantages that synthetic biology has and that people should be aware of the potential drawbacks it could have. This means that it is possible that someone could accidentally create a virus that has a high lethality rate. The chance of that happening could increase as more people access this technology and the cost lowers.

Some of the social aspects of synthetic biology are that it could be used to create more efficient medicine and for other applications. It is essential to understand that synthetic biology is a science field that redesigns organisms for other purposes by engineering them to have different abilities. They are using this to harness the power of nature to solve problems in medicine, manufacturing, and agriculture. As the U.S. Government Accountability Office stated,

“Through optimal design of a key molecule, synthetic biology could enable vaccines that are effective against a range of viruses and their variants. … This technology could also enable a vaccine that does not require refrigeration, making transport and distribution easier for resource-poor countries. Synthetic biology could also improve drug discovery and development through rapid screening of DNA sequences to zero in on drug candidates using AI and machine learning.”(U.S. Government Accountability Office, 2023, paragraph 7)

Essentially, scientists are using synthetic biology techniques to develop further vaccines that could improve the duration, effectiveness, and expiration. Also, scientists use synthetic biology with AI and machine learning to discover and develop drugs by screening DNA. The scientists are most likely using DNA sequencing and genome editing techniques. DNA sequencing determines a DNA molecule’s exact sequence of nucleotides or bases. The genome editing technique is altering the genetic material of a living organism by inserting, replacing, or deleting a DNA sequence, which would change the outcome of the living organism.

Also, Figure 1 describes the ways synthetic biology could be used in four different sectors: medicine, agriculture, manufacturing, and conservation. In the medical sector, synthetic biology is used by synthesizing parts of the genetic material of a virus with the genetic material of a carrier, which could be used as a vaccine. In the agricultural sector, synthetic biology is used by synthesizing the genetic material of a bacteria with a gene that could provide nutrients to plants. This could decrease the use of fertilizer that could pollute the environment. In manufacturing, synthetic biology is used by inserting the gene that produces spider silk in spiders and integrating that gene into the silkworm embryo genome, which causes the modified silkworm to produce spider silk. This is useful because it could be used to mass-produce spider silk more quickly and cheaply compared to getting it from spiders, which are much more difficult to care for. Another reason for mass-producing spider silk is its properties: “Compared to silkworm silk, it is more waterproof and can absorb three times the impact force without breaking” (K. Murugesh Babu, chapter 10). Because of these properties, spider silk could be used for clothing, tools, and the medical field, such as creating artificial tendons or ligaments; as in Figure 1, it could be used as rope in parachutes carrying heavy cargo. In the conservation sector, synthetic biology is used by inserting genes that increase heat tolerance into coral embryos. This would lead to the modified coral surviving hotter temperatures, and the modified gene will pass down to another generation, which will cause the newer generations to also have increased heat tolerance. This is significant because as time goes by, the temperature of the globe continues to increase. This increase in temperature is causing a lot of coral to go extinct because the corals aren’t adapting fast enough to stay alive. This gives the readers the understanding that there are more ways synthetic biology could be used in other fields that aren’t related to the medical field.
As stated by Douglas and Savulescu (2010), Essentially, They are comparing nuclear technology and synthetic biology. The first comparison is that nuclear technology “is likely to remain bulky and expensive.” At the same time, “bioweapons may become quite portable and cheap.”(Douglas et al., 2010, paragraph 24). Also, as the U.S. Government Accountability Office stated, synthetic biology techniques are used to develop vaccines with longer-lasting and more practical effects. (U.S. Government Accountability Office, 2023, paragraph 7). Essentially, both pieces of evidence state that as synthetic biology improves, so do the potential consequences and benefits. This means that synthetic biology is a double-edged sword that could used to harm others or help. The second piece of evidence doesn’t challenge or contradict against the first evidence; both pieces of evidence shine the light on either the beneficial or consequential side of synthetic biology. The first piece of evidence mainly talks about the consequences of synthetic biology, while the second piece talks about its benefits. This gives the readers the understanding that there will always be beneficial and consequential sides to anything, including synthetic biology, which depends on how the person uses the technology to help or harm others. I believe there will be consequences for everything, but what truly matters is whether the benefits outweigh the consequences. In which case does the possibility of improving our medicine and other applications outweigh the possibility of having a bioweapon? I believe it is a yes, but for now, at least, it might change since technology will improve.
In conclusion, there are ethical, legal, and social aspects of synthetic biology, which have multiple beneficial/detrimental effects depending on how you use the knowledge of it. Synthetic biology has the potential to affect everyone. It could be used in the vaccine/medicine you take or in the food you eat. There are many applications in synthetic biology, and it will continue to evolve as time goes on.

Reference:

Dabrock P. (2009). Playing God? Synthetic biology as a theological and ethical challenge. Systems and synthetic biology, 3(1-4), 47–54. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11693-009-9028-5

Douglas, T., & Savulescu, J. (2010). Synthetic biology and the ethics of knowledge. Journal of Medical Ethics, 36(11), 687–693. https://doi.org/10.1136/jme.2010.038232

Jackson, R. J., Ramsay, A. J., Christensen, C. D., Beaton, S., Hall, D. F., & Ramshaw, I. A. (2001). Expression of mouse interleukin-4 by a recombinant ectromelia virus suppresses cytolytic lymphocyte responses and overcomes genetic resistance to mousepox. Journal of virology, 75(3), 1205–1210. https://doi.org/10.1128/JVI.75.3.1205-1210.2001

Government accountability office, (2023, April 17). Science & Tech spotlight: Synthetic biology. Science & Tech Spotlight: Synthetic Biology | U.S. GAO. https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-23-106648 

Babu, K. M. (2019). Spider silks and their applications. In Elsevier eBooks (pp. 235–253). https://doi.org/10.1016/b978-0-08-102540-6.00010-3