Ethics in Synthetic Biology in India

1. Ethics in Synthetic Biology in India Krishna Ravi Srinivas RIS, New Delhi krsriniv@gmail.comravisrinivas@ris.org.in

2. The Dilemma for a developing country like India in SynBio • Should not miss the bus • But should not invest heavily in R&D when there are many uncertainties • Cannot afford not to develop some capacity • Need for a cautious pragmatic optimistic approach on SynBio and link it with current plans and objectives • Don’t ignore, don’t invest heavily, build capacity, do Technology Assessment and wait and watch

3. Mission Mode in India • Technology Missions- Nanotechnology, Solar Energy • Massive funding by federal government through various departments with one as nodal department e.g. DST for nanotechnology • Capacity building and human resource development • Involving private sector and support R&D in them through various schemes • Support basic and applied research- set up centers, groups in institutions, new institutions • Priority is assessed in five year plans and it is integrated in the annual plans but scope for funding new programs is there • At present there is no mission on SynBio

4. SynBio in India • There are institutes that have capacity and do some work- not explicitly naming as SynBio • Private sector minimal except some start ups • Current research is more on biofuels than on health or other applications • No national mission/scheme on SynBio but no regulation either • So it is in preliminary stage • Issue of definition

5. SynBio-Hope and Hype • Our conversations with scientists (not many) revealed that there is skepticism, definitional issues and lack of any interest group to promote it • SynBio is there but more importance and expectations from nano as of now than synbio • No debate on synbio, debate on nano is minimal and hence synbio is largely unknown or regarded as yet another fancy term

6. List of institutions • NCBS Bangalore • Indian Institute of Science Bangalore • IITs and various universities e.g. Centre for Systems and Synthetic Biology, Kerala University, Trivandrum • CSIR labs- core competencies • http://csirhrdg.res.in/sranew.htm • http://www.immindia.org/chemical_syntheticbiology.htm • http://www.icgeb.org/yazdani-shams-lab.html • Indian participation in IGEM increasing, Biodesign 1.0 http://www.biodesignindia.org/openquestions.html

7. What India can do • Assess potential of SynBio independent of hype and assess capacity in India • Identify priorities for research in SynBio in different sectors and develop capacity • Increase funding through departments and schemes and link this with global programs on synbio Think in terms of North-South-South alliance and more private sector-public sector partnerships • Identify priorities and match with capacities • Go for a mission mode and integrate current funding with this • But all this may not happen in the immediate future because there is no interest group • Private sector start ups and CROs may get involved more in health related synbio work while biofuels related research might be supported more

8. Equity, Inclusion and Access • In view of limited number of projects it is difficult to assess their impact in terms of equity, inclusion and access • As there is no precise definition it is difficult categorize projects in terms of sectors

9. Debate elsewhere and India • Although SynBio’s ethical implications have been debated elsewhere they have not had impact in India as SynBio is in infancy • Need for a debate might arise if there is a conscious effort to develop one • If so what frameworks/approaches should be used • Is there any universal synbio ethics

10. Will India miss the bus in SynBio • Not likely because India is more integrated with global science than ever before • Government sensitive to emerging areas/frontiers in science • Indifference among public->less resistance • Pressure group may emerge from Indian technocrats abroad, academics and science academies and industry • So unless a roadmap for SynBio, is prepared and debated SynBio may not get priority • Need convincing answers to the question how SynBio can contribute to meeting India’s needs in different sectors • For example can synbio really make a difference in terms of diagnostics, vaccines and drugs that are effective and cheap • If that can be convincingly argued SynBio in Health may get more attention • So current outlook is uncertain but that does not mean that India will ignore SynBio in the long run

11. Conclusion • At present there is very limited activity in synbio and capacity exists • Priority now is synbio applications in biofuels • Almost absence of debates on ethics • Position may change in future • Equity, Access and Inclusion dimensions not clear at this • Absence of TA of synbio and identification of priorities makes it difficult to predict the future of synbio • But India will not miss synbio bus

12. Conclusion • There is no debate in ethical issues per se • In future there can be debates depending upon the project and application • So possibility of pro-active TA and identifying ethical issues is possible