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Synthetic Biology: Nature Redesigned

Synthetic Biology: Nature Redesigned. Eric Hoffman Biotechnology Policy Campaigner Friends of the Earth U.S. Nature Redesigned. Humans Dominating Nature (to the Extreme) Genetic Contamination The New Biomass Economy. 1) Humans Dominating Nature (to the Extreme).

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Synthetic Biology: Nature Redesigned

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  1. Synthetic Biology: Nature Redesigned Eric Hoffman Biotechnology Policy Campaigner Friends of the Earth U.S.

  2. Nature Redesigned • Humans Dominating Nature (to the Extreme) • Genetic Contamination • The New Biomass Economy

  3. 1) Humans Dominating Nature (to the Extreme) • Humans are trying to re-write the basic genetic code that makes up all life on earth • Cells as hardware, DNA as software, life a computer • Biology (and life) as a machine • “Standard Biological Parts” • “Chasis” • “Genetically Engineered Machines”

  4. The Synthetic Future Synthetic biology “raises the question of what it means to be human….This potential raises questions such as how we should (and how we will) change ourselves and our environments. Synthetic biology may be especially powerful in this respect because it frees the design of biological systems from the process of natural evolution. The ability to sequence and then synthesize DNA (and even to invent new base code) adds a new layer to the power of nature: giving humans the ability to design and redesign the biological systems of which they themselves are part.” – Drew Endy, Symposium on Opportunities and Challenges in the Emerging Field of Synthetic Biology; OECD

  5. The Bug in the Code • But genetics, biological systems, and life are a incalculably more complex than computer code • Our ability to synthesize DNA and genes has far outpaced our understanding of what these genes do, how they work, the epigenetic factors involved, etc. • Synthetic organisms may be both powerful and UNPREDICTABLE • The synthetic biologist may not be able to correct the problems they cause.

  6. 2) Genetic Contamination • Intentional or unintentional release of synthetic organisms • Impossible to recall or clean up • DNA does not disappear once organism dies

  7. Gene Transfer • Horizontal gene transfer between synthetic and wild-type organisms • Viruses multiply by swapping DNA • Vertical gene transfer to other organisms

  8. Xenobiology to the Rescue? • Attempts to create alternative genetic systems will not solve all these problems • Alternative genetic systems: • Xenobiology • Mirror Biology • New nucleotides and base pairs • DNA remains in environment when organism dies

  9. 3) The New Biomass Economy

  10. From Field to Fuel “Whoever produces abundant biofuels could end up making more than just big bucks —they will make history…The companies, the countries, that succeed in this will be the economic winners of the next age to the same extent that the oil-rich nations are today.” -J. Craig Venter Synthetic Genomics, Inc., 20 April 2009

  11. Who Will Own the “Biomass Economy?” • New “bio-economy” owned by, and for the benefit of, the Global North • Patents are being sought on: • Synthesized genes • Synthetic organisms & their products • Synthetic biology processes

  12. What Does the “Biomass Economy” Look like? http://www.synbioproject.org/library/inventories/map/ http://cdiac.ornl.gov/epubs/ndp/global_carbon/carbon_documentation.html

  13. Amyris: The Bio-Economy Frontier • Amyris Biotechnologies, created out of UC Berkeley • First product – anti-malarial • Opened up operations in Brazil to produce biofuels • Cheap sugar! • Expansion of industrial sugarcane industry could be devastating for local environment, communities

  14. Thank you Eric Hoffman Biotechnology Policy Campaigner Friends of the Earth U.S. ehoffman@foe.org 202.222.0747

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