scholarly journals Synthetic Biology, Dual Use Research, and Possibilities for Control

2018 ◽  
pp. 7-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eckard Wimmer
Keyword(s):  
Synthetic Biology ◽  
Dual Use

scholarly journals Opportunities, Challenges, and Future Considerations for Top-Down Governance for Biosecurity and Synthetic Biology

2021 ◽  
pp. 37-58
Author(s):  
R. Alexander Hamilton ◽  
Ruth Mampuys ◽  
S. E. Galaitsi ◽  
Aengus Collins ◽  
Ivan Istomin ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Synthetic Biology ◽  
Genetic Engineering ◽  
Dna Sequencing ◽  
Environmental Sustainability ◽  
Gene Editing ◽  
Dual Use ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Modern Biology ◽  
The Creation

AbstractSynthetic biology promises to make biology easier to engineer (Endy 2005), enabling more people in less formal research settings to participate in modern biology. Leveraging advances in DNA sequencing and synthesis technologies, genetic assembly methods based on standard biological parts (e.g. BioBricks), and increasingly precise gene-editing tools (e.g. CRISPR), synthetic biology is helping increase the reliability of and accessibility to genetic engineering. Although potentially enabling tremendous opportunities for the advancement of the global bioeconomy, opening new avenues for the creation of health, wealth and environmental sustainability, the possibility of a more ‘democratic’ (widely accessible) bioengineering capability could equally yield new opportunities for accidental, unintended or deliberate misuse. Consequently, synthetic biology represents a quintessential ‘dual-use’ biotechnology – a technology with the capacity to enable significant benefits and risks (NRC 2004).

scholarly journals Negotiating the dynamics of uncomfortable knowledge: The case of dual use and synthetic biology

BioSocieties ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 393-420 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claire Marris ◽  
Catherine Jefferson ◽  
Filippa Lentzos
Keyword(s):  
Synthetic Biology ◽  
Dual Use

Biological Dual-Use Research and Synthetic Biology of Yeast

2016 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 365-374 ◽  
Author(s):  
Angela Cirigliano ◽  
Orlando Cenciarelli ◽  
Andrea Malizia ◽  
Carlo Bellecci ◽  
Pasquale Gaudio ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Synthetic Biology ◽  
Dual Use

scholarly journals Synthetic Biology – Friend or Foe? What Kind of Threats Should We Expect?

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
pp. 103-122
Keyword(s):  
Synthetic Biology ◽  
Science Fiction ◽  
Pathogenic Bacteria ◽  
Human Microbiome ◽  
Toxic Chemicals ◽  
Pathway Engineering ◽  
Zinc Finger Nucleases ◽  
Biological Warfare ◽  
Dual Use ◽  
Human Immune System

Synthetic biology is a newly emerging branch of dual-use technology. It is a combination of biology and different branches of engineering. The aim of this article is to show the main technological methods of synthetic biology and to give specific examples of its use to create new types of biological agents and methods of biological warfare, previously unthinkable and presented only in science fiction. Basic tools and techniques of synthetic biology are: DNA synthesis and DNA sequencing; «chassis», i.e. host system harboring the genetic toolbox for expression of the desired genes, delivered by suitable vectors, of the engineered biological pathway; engineering of transcription systems that do not deplete the resources of the cell (synthetic promotors and transcription factors); genome modification tools (CRISPR/Cas9 nuclease, zinc finger nucleases, TALE nucleases, meganucleases); computer-aided tools (involved in basic structural design and synthesis; in network design; in prediction of behavior/function/response). Synthetic biology has already demonstrared its capabilities in re-creating known pathogenic viruses and pathogenic bacteria; in making existing pathogenic bacteria and viruses more dangerous for humans; in creating new pathogens; in manufacturing toxic chemicals or biochemicals by exploiting natural and artificial metabolic pathways; in making toxic chemicals and biochemicals via in situ synthesis; in modifying the human microbiome; in modifying the human immune system; in modifying the human genome (through addition, deletion, or modification of genes or through epigenetic changes that modify gene expression and can pass from parent to child during reproduction and thus spread a genetic change through the population over time). The article discusses in detail the possibilities of synthetic biology for the development of new means of biological warfare. The author believes that it is necessary not only to constantly monitor these new dual-use biotechnologies, but also to improve traditional and scientific methods of their monitoring.

Synthetic Biology and Dual Use

2013 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 698-704
Author(s):  
Daisuke Kiga ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Synthetic Biology ◽  
Risk Reduction ◽  
Open Innovation ◽  
Gene Networks ◽  
Whole Genome ◽  
Dual Use ◽  
Gene Engineering ◽  
Modifying Genes ◽  
Reduction Methods ◽  
Gene Recombinant

Synthetic biology is science or technology concerning layers of life such as individuals, organs, cells. In this field, components of a layer are combined to construct a system in the upper layer. This paper focuses on studies, at a layer related to gene recombinant experiments, modifying genes and combining multiple genes. By introducing research accomplishments in synthetic biology such as gene networks and synthesis of the whole genome, this paper explains how synthetic biology is an extension of conventional gene engineering and the field of interdisciplinary open innovation. The risks of synthetic biology and risk reduction methods are also introduced.

scholarly journals Promoting Effective Biosecurity Governance: Using Tripwires to Anticipate and Ameliorate Potentially Harmful Development Trends

2021 ◽  
pp. 209-225
Author(s):  
Benjamin D. Trump ◽  
Stephanie Galaitsi ◽  
Miriam Pollock ◽  
Kaitlin M. Volk ◽  
Igor Linkov
Keyword(s):  
Synthetic Biology ◽  
Environmental Remediation ◽  
Research Area ◽  
Dual Use ◽  
Terrorist Organizations ◽  
The Past ◽  
Interdisciplinary Field ◽  
Invasive Organisms ◽  
Area Of Concern ◽  
New Vaccines

AbstractSynthetic biology is a new, rapidly growing interdisciplinary field which seeks to use engineering techniques to alter and construct new biological components, devices, and systems. The rate of synthetic biology development and research has increased over the past two decades in both industry and academia (Ahteensuu 2017). Applications include medicine (new vaccines, delivery of therapeutics, and treatments), energy (biofuels), environmental remediation, food production, and general industry (detergents, adhesives, perfumes) (Evans and Selgelid 2015; Gronvall 2015). While synthetic biology heralds advances in these fields, its techniques could also be adapted for malicious purposes and used by terrorist organizations, rogue actors, or hostile nations to create dangerous pathogens, invasive organisms, or other disruptive biological agents (Yeh et al. 2012). Such potential makes synthetic biology a dual-use research area of concern (DURC) as the same techniques can be used to benefit or harm people, animals, environments, technology, or nations (Getz and Dellaire 2018). To cope with threats arising from synthetic biology’s dual-use nature, biosecurity is needed to prevent, detect, and attribute biological attacks.

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