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  • Ethical Theory for "Dual-Use" Dilemmas in Synthetic Biology
  • Yim Guo Rong Daniel* (bio)

Introduction — The "Dual-Use" Nature of Synthetic Biology

The 20th of May 2010 was a significant milestone in modern biology. On this day, US geneticist Craig Venter claimed to have created a self-replicating bacterial cell with a completely synthetic genome (Gibson et al. 2010), after 10 years of research with an estimated USD40 million invested. As The Guardian reported: this work opens the doors for "designer organisms that are built rather than evolved" ("Craig Venter Creates Synthetic Life Form").

These "designer" organisms are products of synthetic biology, and carry the hope of the novel production of drugs, biomedicine, vaccines and bio-materials in "microbial factories". This could lead to, for example, significantly lower production costs of medicines. Other postulated uses of synthetic biology include bioremediation and production of biofuels. Clearly, synthetic biology carries many promises, some of which are already realised.1

On the flipside, there are concerns that bioterrorism and biowarfare can now be facilitated with synthetic biology. A commentary by McKie and Stargardter reminds us of the existence of the variala virus, which causes the deadly smallpox responsible for an approximate 300-500 million deaths in the 20th century alone ("Smallpox Virus: Crunch Time for the Fate of a Global Killer"). Although the World Health Organization declared smallpox [End Page 150] eradicated in 1980, the causative virus still exists for research purposes. With the advent of synthetic biology, and readily available information about "standard biological parts" in public databases"("Registry of Standard Biological Parts"), the assembly of synthetic viruses (not limited to the variala virus) for military use is a possibility, and the threat of bioterrorism is of great concern to many. The apparent benefits of synthetic biology are thus accompanied by prospective harms; it potentially can be used for both peaceful and destructive aims, illustrating the "dual-use" nature of the technology.

Pertinent Issues in Synthetic Biology and the "Dual-Use" Dilemma

In light of the benefits and harms associated with "dual-use" technology, are there any ethical theories that could guide the development and propagation of synthetic biology? Douglas and Savulescu identified the "ethics of knowledge" as being of imminent ethical concern in synthetic biology (Douglas and Savulescu 2010) and highlighted the need for a counter to the ostensible "misuse of knowledge". They discussed two common issues in synthetic biology: the "playing God" argument, and the question about the moral status of synthetic organisms; further arguing that these two issues cannot be the main concerns in synthetic biology (and I will not address these concerns further in this article). Instead, the ethics of "dual-use" technology will be discussed here, in terms of the pertinent ethical issues arising in synthetic biology and the ethical theories that may be applicable.

The main question I would like to address is: are there any ethical theories that could guide the "dual-use" issues in synthetic biology?

The "Dual-Use" Dilemma

Misuse of knowledge does not concern merely synthetic biology but also other disciplines of science.2 When scientific knowledge could be used both for good and harm, the "dual-use" dilemma inevitably surfaces. The dilemma could be illustrated as follows:

  1. A. We identify that synthesising a virus will result in a medical good. (We may use the virus for targeted therapies against cancer and other diseases.)

  2. B. Since the purpose in A is good, we should synthesise the virus.

  3. C. Despite the "good" presented in A, others may use the technology for harm (bioterrorism, for example) contrary to A.

  4. D. Should we then continue with B? [End Page 151]

Here, one can see that the dilemma lies in whether to continue the pursuit of the knowledge in light of a substantial risk of harm, despite the benefits, associated with the technology. The question is also whether it will be ethical to continue with B, and to answer this, one could use an ethical theory relating to the ethics of knowledge for guiding decisions in "dual-use" dilemmas that could arise as synthetic biology progresses.

Another example of the dilemma associated with "dual-use" technology is open communication in science. Scientific data are published in...

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