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Laying the Groundwork for the Era of Synthetic Genomics
The J. Craig Venter Institute, along with researchers at MIT and the Center for Strategic and International Studies, recently released a report entitled “Synthetic Genomics | Options for Governance”.
Biopact.com summarized some of the leading criticisms of the report and JCVI’s approach to the possible hazards of synthetic biology. The ETC group criticized the report’s U.S.-centered approach and argued that it focused too much on the dangers of synthetic organisms being used for bio-terror at the expense of addressing bio-error, i.e.: the unintended mistakes of benign research.
ETC also criticized JCVI’s recommendation that biotech firms vest Institutional Biosafety Committees with the responsibility of evaluating synthetic genomic projects. ETC quotes Edward Hammond, Director of the Sunshine Project, a biotech and bioweapons watchdog, who argues that IBCs, “are a documented disaster… [and] aren’t up to their existing task of overseeing genetic engineering research, much less ready to absorb new synthetic biology and security mandates. ”
On a conceptual level, ETC felt that JCVI did not ask sufficient background questions such as whether synthetic biology is desirable or acceptable, who should control it, what the potential impacts might be, and who has the authority to make those decisions.
ETC released a report in January entitled “Extreme Genetic Engineering” where they call for a broad debate on the social and ethical implications of synthetic biology across all of civil society. They note that bio-terror and bio-safety are not the only issues; synthetic biology policy must also address matters of intellectual property and biodiversity.
In light of these fears, ZDNet offers a perspective-shifting quote from Venter, who spoke at the Web 2.0 summit a few weeks ago: “People get paranoid about bacteria. They are living on the wrong planet. We are in a complete bacterial spectrum.”
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