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Social and ethical aspects of Synthetic Biology (SB) in Europe

Social and ethical aspects of Synthetic Biology (SB) in Europe. Markus Schmidt Organisation for International Dialogue and Conflict Management
 Vienna, Austria. Subfields of contemporary SB. 1. DNA Synthesis. 2. DNA based bio-circuits. 3. Minimal genome. 4. Protocells.

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Social and ethical aspects of Synthetic Biology (SB) in Europe

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  1. Social and ethical aspects of Synthetic Biology (SB) in Europe Markus Schmidt Organisation for International Dialogue and Conflict Management
 Vienna, Austria

  2. Subfields of contemporary SB 1. DNA Synthesis 2. DNA based bio-circuits 3. Minimal genome 4. Protocells 5. Chemical SB/Xenobiology

  3. Synbio publications: USA-Europe Source: www.gopubmed.com, searchterm “synthetic biology”

  4. Synbio research funding in Europe Pei L, Gaisser S, Schmidt M (2010) Synthetic Biology in the view of European public funding organisations. Submitted

  5. (Ethics) Councils in Europe on SB • UK • SB not considered relevant for the Nuffield Council of Bioethics (in 2006/07/08) • Germany • DFG-Acatech-Leopoldina statement (2009) • Ethics Council to the German Parliament (2009) • German Ethics Council (Deutscher Ethikrat) (2009/10) • Switzerland • Federal Ethics Committee on Non-Human Biotechnology (2009/10) • Netherlands • Commission on Genetic Modification (COGEM) (2007-2009)

  6. European Commission • European Group on Ethics in Science and New Technologies (EGE) (2008/09) • Opinion paper: Ethics of synthetic biology • 26 recommendations • Biosafety: risk assessment procedure • Caution with environmental release • Consumer rights, explore labelling • Biosafety standards for SB product import-export • Governance of SB in global fora • Patents - open access: clarifications • Promote public debate and engagement • Media: promote responsible reporting on SB and its implications • Properly support basic research and ELSI work • Stimulate philosophical and religious debate

  7. DFG: Ethics SB Synth-Ethics: general ELSI SYBHEL: ethics - human health Biosafety EU - China SB 1.0 SB 2.0 SB 3.0 SB 4.0 BBSRC Networks incl. ELSA IASB (Industry) TARPOL: WP1 + WP5 CISYNBIO/Biofiction: film and SB COSY Communicating SB TESSY SYNBIOSAFE PACE: incl. ethical considerations concerning artificial cells 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 and beyond Projects on societal and ethical aspects of Synbio in Europe ESF: SYNMOD

  8. DFG SB ethics DFG SB ethics TARPOL TARPOL TARPOL TARPOL Colonizing the ELSI space in Europe

  9. SYNBIOSAFE: safety and ethical aspects of SB • Ethics • Related to its applications (e.g. human enhancement) • Related to its distribution (e.g. biofuel production) • Related to the procedure as such (e.g. status of living machines) • Biosafety • How to assess risks from new SB products, functions and systems? • How can we improve safety through SB biosafety engineering? • What happens if non-professionals (amateurs, hackers) start using SB? Schmidt M, Ganguli-Mitra A, Torgersen H, Kelle A, Deplazes A & Biller-Andorno N. 2009. A Priority Paper for the Societal and Ethical Aspects of Synthetic Biology. Systems and Synthic Biology Vol.3(1-4):1-2

  10. Documentary film www.synbiosafe.eu

  11. TARPOL TARPOL: “Targeting environmental pollution with engineered microbial systems à la carte” source: Schmidt et al. 2010. Synthetic biology applications in environmental biotechnology. Forthcoming

  12. COSY: Communicating Synthetic Biology

  13. Press articles about SB in German language media (cumulative) Torgersen H. et al. 2010. Communicating Synthetic Biology (COSY) - Final Report. www.synbio.at

  14. scientists journalist „publics“ Analysing information flow

  15. Focus groups: neutral opinions at first... + - Torgersen H. et al. 2010. Communicating Synthetic Biology (COSY) - Final Report. www.synbio.at

  16. ....but after reading about SB: polarized opinions + - Torgersen H. et al. 2010. Communicating Synthetic Biology (COSY) - Final Report. www.synbio.at

  17. Synbio Science, Art and Film FestivalAustria, Vienna www.bio-fiction.com

  18. Thanks! With support from:

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