BJ Buenafe

Michael flower
Life Unlimited
First what is synthetic biology? There is no universal accepted
definition of what synthetic biology is .Synthetic biology refers to the use of
computer-assisted, biological engineering to design and construct new
synthetic biological parts, devices and systems that do not exist in nature
and redesign of existing biological organisms. Many of the publics fear are
scientists have a new way to reshape nature, but none can predict the cost.
Balancing security and safety risks to facilitate research without imposing
unreasonable bureaucratic burdens on scientists and academic freedom is
challenging. However along with any new technology comes new ethical
issues that need to be addressed. Taking into account these concerns allows
this new technology to progress in a safe and ethical manner. The public are
highly concerned with what scientists get up to in their labs and if there is
enough regulation and reasons, other than personal interest, behind their
research.
Many concerns of synthetic biology is how the public misunderstand of
synthetic bio. Synthetic bio is the new approach to GMO by designing the
organism from scratch or removing all the nonessential DNA from an existing
organism. What will happen if a synthetic organism escapes a lab? With
complete control over the genomes of their organism, those escape will

probably die. But there are still concerns about the potential environment
impacts of the accidental release of synthetic organism. Its truly worrisome
if a truly novel organism is released. While accidental harm can occur
unintentional, malice is also an important factor in technologies because of
terrorism we live in. If terrorist wish to make destruction nature provided
massive numbers of harmful organism and deadly chemicals are easier to
manage and create. Scientist would have enormous difficulty in creating a
deadly pathogens instead of a simple microbe designed to help the
environment. A way to overcome the ethical issue of bioterrorism and
dangerous biological parts is to regulate their distribution. There are more
risk for not using synthetic biology. Synthetic biology can produce organism
to clean up pollution and provide clean energy. We need complete
understanding of synthetic biology.
In recent discussions of Managing the unimaginable: regulatory
responses to the challenge posed by synthetic biology and synthetic
genomics, a controversial issue has been whether synthetic bio needs some
regulatory control. On this article, the author argues that the risks of
synthetic bio are profound and have an impact on both society and the
environment, and that research and researchers should be tightly regulated.
Also believing that its inappropriate for scientist and engineers to regulate
themselves. It is important of balancing scientific freedom with biosecurity
and biosafety concerns. They believe that either an independent authority
or a hybrid of institutional and government regulatory processes would

provide the most ethically robust form of governance, while being able to
respond to scientific and technological progress and achieve the best
balance between academic freedom and public safety. From this perspective,
Regulation would therefore seems to be the most appropriate response. In
the discussion of Will overregulation in Europe Stymie Synthetic Biology,
and Give Genetic Engineering some Breathing Room Government
regulations are suffocating application with great promise, scientist argue
that regulation should be self-governance. Since synthetic is still new, its still
emerging into public awareness. It raised several both public opinion and
existing legal and regulatory regimes as synthetic bio progresses. They argue
that anti synthetic bio is based on idiosyncratic and largely invalid set of
assumptions that overestimated the novelty and potential risks associated
with the process of gene transfer. Both author thinks that regulation the
government should lessened regulation given that there hasnt been any
strong scientific evidence to regulate. Synthesized organism would be
subject to the same regulations. The question is whether organism should be
subject to a greater degree of scrutiny simply virtue of having genomes hat
had been modified using synthetic DNA, rather than DNA extracted from
another organism.
In the discussion of Will overregulation in Europe Stymie Synthetic
Biology, the author argues that government should adopt a scientifically
defensible, risk-based approach to synthetic biology. This article brings up
interesting questions such as Will they try to subject these, made-from-

scratch, organisms to the same technique-focused, unscientific, excessively

burdensome regulatory frameworks designed for recombinant DNA-modified
organisms? If synthetic biology is over-regulated, only big corporations will
be able to legally do research in this aspect of science. Right now there's a
tremendous opportunity for open source methods to be applied by ordinary
individuals of modest income. It's good not to overreact based on some
vague fear of the unknown and stifle this grass roots maker movement which
holds promise for the future in solving some of our most pressing global
problems. Please think and put fear of the unknown on pause. Synthetic
biology involves many novel, experimental, little understood techniques and
outcomes, and this greatly increases the risks involved to the environment,
human health, food security and livelihoods. . There are currently laws that
regulate what can and cant be done in Synthetic Biology, however it has
been suggested that an independent regulatory body should be employed to
govern Synthetic Biology and make sure there are no, from the perspective
of non-scientists, unethical research projects that go ahead.
In the discussion of Give Genetic Engineering some Breathing Room
Government regulations are suffocating application with great promise, the
author believes that there are far more rational and proven alternatives to
the current unscientific regulation of genetic engineering. This article raises
questions if lessening government regulation is right. How will the various
regulatory agencies approach new techniques of synthetic bio of law and
regulation? What will be the regulatory costs, time, and effort required to

bring them to market? Regulation will definitely cost a lot of time, money and
effort. The opportunity cost of unnecessary regulatory delays and inflated
development expenses are formidable. The author complains that they
deserve better from government regulatory agencies and from their
congressional overseers.
My own view is that there should be an independent third party or
government authority to regulate synthetic bio. Though I concede that there
are no unique risks from the use of molecular techniques of genetic
engineering, I still maintain that there should always be strong regulation to
protect the general public. For example, if synthetic bio are self-governance
they will take benefit from the investigation and application of synthetic
biology. Although some might object that regulation are costly, I reply that
we need regulation for public safety. I also believe that either an independent
authority or a hybrid of institutional and government regulatory processes
would provide the most ethically robust form of governance, while being able
to respond to scientific and technological progress and achieve the best
balance between academic freedom and public safety. Synthetic biology may
hold the answers to some of todays most pressing issues; on the other, it
may be the source of our worst nightmare. A system of regulations, although
difficult to implement, is essential in order to safely reap synthetic biologys
social and economic benefits. In the meantime, with or without regulation,
synthetic biologists unravel and redesign the phenomenon of life.

At the same time, scientists in the field recognize need for new regulations
now. The Synthetic Biology Engineering Research Center (SynBERC), funded
by the National Science Foundation, advocates regulation specific to
synthetic biology. One proposal would closely regulate all nucleic acids that
share 15 percent of the genome of a pre-defined list of viruses. Such
regulation, however, could prove burdensome to fields other than synthetic
biology, such as virology. Another similar proposal is to regulate organisms
that contain genes from a pre-defined list of dangerous genes. Like the other
proposal, regulations may restrict other fields by targeting organisms that
are not harmless at all. The list would also have to be updated frequently to
accommodate new dangerous genes.
As we know more about synthetic the better understanding we will
have. There is no universal accepted definition of what if biology. Many of the
publics fear are scientists have a new way to reshape nature, but none can
predict the cost. Many concerns of synthetic biology is how the public
misunderstand of synthetic bio. Synthetic bio is the new approach to GMO by
designing the organism from scratch or removing all the nonessential DNA
from an existing organism. Balancing security and safety risks to facilitate
research without imposing unreasonable bureaucratic burdens on scientists
and academic freedom is challenging. There are more risk for not using
synthetic biology. Synthetic biology can produce organism to clean up
pollution and provide clean energy. We need complete understanding of
synthetic biology. However along with any new technology comes new

ethical issues that need to be addressed. Taking into account these concerns
allows this new technology to progress in a safe and ethical manner. The
public are highly concerned with what scientists get up to in their labs and if
there is enough regulation and reasons, other than personal interest, behind
their research. Some believe that either an independent authority or a
hybrid of institutional and government regulatory processes would provide
the most ethically robust form of governance, while being able to respond to
scientific and technological progress and achieve the best balance between
academic freedom and public safety. And others argue that they deserve
better from government regulatory agencies and from their congressional
overseers or self-governance. Synthetic Biology is a new and exciting
technology with many useful applications that would be beneficial for society
if it were to be embraced. There are ethical and economic issues that come
with this new field of research, which are not to be ignored but these can be
overcome and the potential benefits outweigh the harms and disadvantages
of the research.