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Researcher Name: Jane Calvert Affiliated Staff: Peter Robbins Project Start Date: Project End Date: Contact Details: Link to Jane Calvert's profile page Funder: ESRC Innogen Centre Background: Synthetic biology is an emerging field which involves constructing biological organisms from 'scratch'. For this reason, it raises many social, regulatory, ethical and epistemic concerns. Synthetic biology covers a broad and disparate set of research activities, including the construction of interchangeable biological parts and devices (often called 'BioBricks'), work at the level of whole genomes (including the synthesis of viral genomes, and the reduction of existing bacterial genomes), and the attempt to create 'protocells' from simple components (see O'Malley et al. 2008). An important aspect of synthetic biology is that it involves the application of engineering principles to biological systems. This brings to the fore the different epistemic value schemes of biologists and engineers, and raises interesting issues about the extent to which biological systems can be treated as if they are comprised of discrete modular components (which coincidentally fit well with appropriation regimes, including open source). Aims and Objectives: This project aims to answer the following research questions: What is the relationship between systems and synthetic biology (should we think of this relationship in terms of ‘science’ and ‘technology’)? What is the role of engineering in synthetic biology? Do engineers and biologists have different aspirations and approaches? Do they treat biological complexity differently? What is the relationship between the economic/regulatory and the epistemic in synthetic biology (e.g. open source and modularity)? Will synthetic biology challenge our current conceptions of what is ‘natural’? Could we see ‘life’ being (re)shaped so it fits better with manufacturing practices and property regimes? Research Methods: Membership of a UK synthetic biology network, interviews with leading systems biologists, attendance at conferences and workshops. Key Findings: Wider implications for policy: Project Update: Publications: Calvert, J and Martin, P (2009) ‘The role of social scientists in synthetic biology’ EMBO Reports 10(3): 201-204 Calvert, J (2008) ‘The commodification of emergence: systems biology, synthetic biology and intellectual property’ BioSocieties 3(4): 385-400 O'Malley, M, Powell, A, Davies, J and Calvert, J (2008) 'Knowledge-making distinctions in synthetic biology' BioEssays 30(1): 57–65 External Links: Further information:
Synthetic biology is an emerging field which involves constructing biological organisms from 'scratch'. For this reason, it raises many social, regulatory, ethical and epistemic concerns.
Synthetic biology covers a broad and disparate set of research activities, including the construction of interchangeable biological parts and devices (often called 'BioBricks'), work at the level of whole genomes (including the synthesis of viral genomes, and the reduction of existing bacterial genomes), and the attempt to create 'protocells' from simple components (see O'Malley et al. 2008).
An important aspect of synthetic biology is that it involves the application of engineering principles to biological systems.
This brings to the fore the different epistemic value schemes of biologists and engineers, and raises interesting issues about the extent to which biological systems can be treated as if they are comprised of discrete modular components (which coincidentally fit well with appropriation regimes, including open source).
This project aims to answer the following research questions:
Calvert, J and Martin, P (2009) ‘The role of social scientists in synthetic biology’ EMBO Reports 10(3): 201-204
Calvert, J (2008) ‘The commodification of emergence: systems biology, synthetic biology and intellectual property’ BioSocieties 3(4): 385-400
O'Malley, M, Powell, A, Davies, J and Calvert, J (2008) 'Knowledge-making distinctions in synthetic biology' BioEssays 30(1): 57–65
