The Ethics of Synthetic Biology Research and Development: A Principlist Approach

2020 ◽  
pp. 337-349
Author(s):  
Kevin Smith
Keyword(s):  
Synthetic Biology ◽  
Research And Development ◽  
Biology Research

scholarly journals Eukaryotic systems broaden the scope of synthetic biology

2009 ◽  
Vol 187 (5) ◽  
pp. 589-596 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karmella A. Haynes ◽  
Pamela A. Silver
Keyword(s):  
Synthetic Biology ◽  
Nucleic Acids ◽  
Cell Biology ◽  
Cell Behavior ◽  
Cellular Functions ◽  
Complex Cells ◽  
Cellular Processes ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities ◽  
Foundational Work ◽  
Biology Research

Synthetic biology aims to engineer novel cellular functions by assembling well-characterized molecular parts (i.e., nucleic acids and proteins) into biological “devices” that exhibit predictable behavior. Recently, efforts in eukaryotic synthetic biology have sprung from foundational work in bacteria. Designing synthetic circuits to operate reliably in the context of differentiating and morphologically complex cells presents unique challenges and opportunities for progress in the field. This review surveys recent advances in eukaryotic synthetic biology and describes how synthetic systems can be linked to natural cellular processes in order to manipulate cell behavior and to foster new discoveries in cell biology research.

Breaking a Vicious Cycle

2013 ◽  
Vol 5 (196) ◽  
pp. 196cm6-196cm6 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel F. Hayes ◽  
Jeff Allen ◽  
Carolyn Compton ◽  
Gary Gustavsen ◽  
Debra G. B. Leonard ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Clinical Practice ◽  
Research And Development ◽  
Clinical Utility ◽  
Tumor Biology ◽  
Tumor Biomarker ◽  
Vicious Cycle ◽  
Standard Clinical Practice ◽  
Regulatory Standards ◽  
Guidelines Development ◽  
Biology Research

Despite prodigious advances in tumor biology research, few tumor-biomarker tests have been adopted as standard clinical practice. This lack of reliable tests stems from a vicious cycle of undervaluation, resulting from inconsistent regulatory standards and reimbursement, as well as insufficient investment in research and development, scrutiny of biomarker publications by journals, and evidence of analytical validity and clinical utility. We offer recommendations designed to serve as a roadmap to break this vicious cycle and call for a national dialogue, as changes in regulation, reimbursement, investment, peer review, and guidelines development require the participation of all stakeholders.

scholarly journals Engineering pattern formation and morphogenesis

2020 ◽  
Vol 48 (3) ◽  
pp. 1177-1185
Author(s):  
Jamie A. Davies ◽  
Fokion Glykofrydis
Keyword(s):  
Tissue Engineering ◽  
Synthetic Biology ◽  
Pattern Formation ◽  
Research And Development ◽  
Reaction Diffusion ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Self Organized ◽  
Physical Form ◽  
Basic Understanding ◽  
Self Organizing

The development of natural tissues, organs and bodies depends on mechanisms of patterning and of morphogenesis, typically (but not invariably) in that order, and often several times at different final scales. Using synthetic biology to engineer patterning and morphogenesis will both enhance our basic understanding of how development works, and provide important technologies for advanced tissue engineering. Focusing on mammalian systems built to date, this review describes patterning systems, both contact-mediated and reaction-diffusion, and morphogenetic effectors. It also describes early attempts to connect the two to create self-organizing physical form. The review goes on to consider how these self-organized systems might be modified to increase the complexity and scale of the order they produce, and outlines some possible directions for future research and development.

A philosophy for Opening Biotechnology Collaboration for Therapeutics

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jason Barkeloo ◽  
Timothy Cripe ◽  
Li Guo ◽  
Ronald Laymon ◽  
Pablo Pomposiello ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Synthetic Biology ◽  
Research And Development ◽  
Open Source ◽  
Patent Protection ◽  
Pharmaceutical Research ◽  
New Drugs ◽  
Regulatory Requirements ◽  
Drug Candidates ◽  
Technological Advances ◽  
Prescription Costs

The pharmaceutical industry faces a host of worsening problems: Multibillion-dollar expenses and decade-long development times to bring new drugs to market, high failure rates for new drug candidates, and a patent system that is both expensive and uncertain. Demanding regulatory requirements and governmental pressures on prescription costs add yet more pressure on drug development. Although the situation does not yet constitute a crisis, its current trajectory is becoming increasingly untenable. While the industry itself has been resourceful in introducing technological advances and operating reforms such as increased collaboration through patent pooling, these efforts do not exhaust the possibilities for improvement. In particular, there has been an emerging, more agile and responsive alternative model in pharmaceutical research and development, namely open source synthetic biology – a rapidly developing and highly collaborative effort based on engineering principles involving the design and construction of biological systems using standardized modules of DNA. Synthetic biology began entirely open to those who wished to participate, provided that they agreed to share their results without restrictions. In its current and more mature state, it retains much of its open source character and is consequently less dependent on secrecy and patent protection than the pharmaceutical industry’s largely proprietary approach. The success of open source synthetic biology has inspired us to further develop that approach for research and development in Biotechnology and its pharmaceutical applications. Here, we reviewed the history and progress of open source science and technology.

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