Area of new biological research gets wary welcome
Released: 26 August 2010
26/08/10 (for immediate release)
The emerging research area of synthetic biology may not suffer the general opposition which greeted other controversial technologies like GM crops, but its risks will need careful regulation if its promise is to be realised. These are the initial conclusions from a novel public dialogue project – using a card game – released today (26 August 2010) by the ESRC Genomics Forum, based at the University of Edinburgh.
Synthetic biology is a new area of biological research combining engineering, biology and IT. It aims to build new biological parts and systems or modify existing ones. Potential applications include new non-surgical medical interventions, new systems to identify environmental contaminants and novel methods to produce food, drugs, chemicals or energy.
Top line project results also reveal that:
- from this first sample of UK citizens there did not emerge a serious fundamental objection to the very idea of synthetic biology.
- virus research, ‘garage biology’ and the potential use of synthetic biology for terrorist purposes were all identified as problematic, suggesting that these risks need addressing in policy. Issues of monopolies, patenting and private ownership were also noted.
- synthetic biology is a relatively difficult subject for the average citizen to engage with. It would be premature to draw strong conclusions about overall support for or concerns about synthetic biology. People are not familiar enough with the issues and will need more time to digest and reflect.
Commenting on the report’s findings, Professor Steve Yearley, Director of the ESRC Genomics Forum, said,
“Synthetic biology is about taking an engineer's view of biological materials – maybe developing innovative forms of yeast or bacteria to do new jobs for us. This novel consultation suggests that members of the public see benefits in this approach, though there are also important concerns about regulation and malign applications. It's clearly important that there is public scrutiny of an innovation as fundamental as this, and we are delighted that our innovative consultation has helped to kick-start that public deliberation.”
Donald Bruce, Director of Edinethics Ltd, the consultancy which was commissioned to write the card game and carry out the dialogue, added,
“One clear message from our games’ participants is that synthetic biology needs careful regulation, if it is really going to meet the human needs that are claimed by its promoters. Members of the public and science students alike recognised that risks are involved in creating radically novel organisms, both from the organisms themselves and from novel uses to which they might be put.”
The public dialogue project took the form of a new Democs card game which aims to encourage ordinary people to discuss possibilities and consequences, rather than provide representative sampling. The cards give both scientific information and explore ethical dilemmas in imaginative ways. The Democs concept was created by the New Economics Foundation (nef).
A total of 15 groups played the game in Scotland and England between November 2009 and March 2010, with 82 participants. The majority of participants were in the 18-30 age range. Participants purposely included science, health and communications students and representatives from the Society, Religion and Technology Project of the Church of Scotland as well as members of the public. All participants took part as individuals rather than on behalf of institutions.
Ends
Professor Steve Yearley and Dr Donald Bruce are available for further comment.
Contact name: Emma Capewell: 0131 651 4746/ 07967 819277
Note to Editors:
1. Synthetic Biology Report Summary
2. In 2007 the ESRC Genomics Forum received a small grant from the Scottish Government to undertake public engagement activities relating to synthetic biology. The Forum used this grant to develop a version of Democs, a public dialogue tool. Democs stands for ‘Deliberative Meetings Of Citizens.’ It is a card ‘game’ that allows a small group to find out about an issue, discuss it, seek common ground, and give their views. No prior knowledge of the issue is needed, and no ‘experts’ need be present to run the activity. Democs can also be used to feed into policy consultations – a version was specially developed for use in the 2003 ‘GM Nation’ debate. Democs was devised by the new economics foundation (nef) in 2001. The Forum’s Synthetic Biology Democs game was developed by independent consultant Dr Donald Bruce (Edinethics Ltd), in collaboration with Perry Walker (nef). The game was rolled out for public use in November 2009. Democs Synthetic Biology kits have been distributed as far afield as Canada and China, as well as France, the Netherlands, and to multiple groups within the UK.
3. Cards, instructions and other components of the game can be downloaded from the Genomics Forum website. For a printed kit, email christine.knight@ed.ac.uk or phone 0131 651 4743.
4. In summer 2010, the BBSRC/EPSRC announced results of a public dialogue exercise on synthetic biology
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