Organism, machine, artifact: The conceptual and normative challenges of synthetic biology☆
Section snippets
The role of rational engineering principles in the understanding and design of biological systems
A defining feature of synthetic biology is its attempt to apply rigorous engineering principles to the design of biological systems. This involves drawing from an expanding catalog of standardized biological ‘parts’ (e.g., genetic sequences) with well-understood, predictable and reasonably isolatable properties that can be arranged in various combinations in the service of preconceived design goals. Pablo Schyfter (this issue) documents the importance of this engineering ideal for the
Machine thinking and artificial teleology
Rational engineering approaches in biology are closely connected to the machine conception of the organism, which has its origins in Cartesian natural philosophy. Although biologists are well aware of the limitations of ‘machine thinking’ and its tensions with our current understanding of developmental systems, machine metaphors continue to pervade contemporary biological literature, biology education texts and the communication of biological research to the general public. One problem with
The organism-artifact continuum
Much of the ethical discussion surrounding synthetic biology has focused on ‘dual use’ dilemmas (wherein the epistemic and technical fruits of synthetic biology could be used for malevolent purposes) and potential unintended deleterious consequences for human health and the environment (for a discussion, see Douglas and Savulescu (2010)). There are fairly straightforward biosecurity and biohazard risks associated with (e.g.) the dissemination of the genetic sequence information of dangerous
The ethical dimensions of artificial life
Even if the ability to produce biological artifacts is nothing new, it is still possible that synthetic biology marks a shift in human attitudes toward nature. Preston (op. cit.), however, argues that the ‘ideology of control’ as exemplified by the methods and aims of synthetic biology and its predecessor technologies (such as genetic engineering) is at best an intensified expression of our post-Neolithic stance toward nature, which has involved ever increasing control over the ecology and
Acknowledgements
Sune Holm would like to thank UNIK Synthetic Biology Copenhagen and The Danish Research Council for Culture and Communication for their support. Russell Powell would like to thank the National Humanities Center and the American Council of Learned Societies for their support of this research.
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2019, Science and Engineering Ethics
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The idea for this special issue emerged from a workshop held at the University of Copenhagen in January, 2011 as a part of the UNIK Synthetic Biology project in collaboration with the Oxford Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics, University of Oxford.