Five hard truths for synthetic biology

Kwok, Roberta

doi:10.1038/463288a

Cited by 391 publications

(310 citation statements)

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“…Insofar as it brings the promise of novelty by design, synthetic biology is often presented as a promising emerging field, yet most of its promises are still to be realised (Porcar et al 2011;Knight 2005;Kwok 2010;Potthast 2009). As often presented, the potential of synthetic biology relies to a large extent on realising the possibility of turning biology into an engineering discipline (Endy 2005).…”

Section: Designing De Novo In Synthetic Biologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Designing de novo: interdisciplinary debates in synthetic biology

Delgado

Porcar

2013

Syst Synth Biol

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Synthetic biology is often presented as a promissory field that ambitions to produce novelty by design. The ultimate promise is the production of living systems that will perform new and desired functions in predictable ways. Nevertheless, realizing promises of novelty has not proven to be a straightforward endeavour. This paper provides an overview of, and explores the existing debates on, the possibility of designing living systems de novo as they appear in interdisciplinary talks between engineering and biological views within the field of synthetic biology. To broaden such interdisciplinary debates, we include the views from the social sciences and the humanities and we point to some fundamental sources of disagreement within the field. Different views co-exist, sometimes as controversial tensions, but sometimes also pointing to integration in the form of intermediate positions. As the field is emerging, multiple choices are possible. They will inform alternative trajectories in synthetic biology and will certainly shape its future. What direction is best is to be decided in reflexive and socially robust ways.

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Section: Designing De Novo In Synthetic Biologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Designing de novo: interdisciplinary debates in synthetic biology

Delgado

Porcar

2013

Syst Synth Biol

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“…The epistemic-ontological position is clear: living systems can be analyzed, explained, and subsequently constructed as the physical and functional sum of their parts, much as electronic systems are understood and constructed. This position is not without controversy (see Kwok 2010), but its acceptance within synthetic biology is widespread. Arguably, it is this strict engineering outlook which distinguishes synthetic biology from earlier forms of genomics research (see Andrianantoandro, et al 2006).…”

Section: Synthetic Biologymentioning

confidence: 99%

Standing Reserves of Function: A Heideggerian Reading of Synthetic Biology

Schyfter

2011

Philos. Technol.

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Synthetic biology, an emerging field of science and technology, intends to make of the natural world a substrate for engineering practice. Drawing inspiration from conventional engineering disciplines, practitioners of synthetic biology hope to make biological systems standardized, calculable, modular, and predictably functional. This essay develops a Heideggerian reading of synthetic biology as a useful perspective with which to identify and explore key facets of this field, its knowledge, its practices, and its products. After overviews of synthetic biology and Heidegger's account of technology, I discuss calculability, utility, function, setting-upon, and ordering, with the aim of discussing the manner in which synthetic biology works to render the biological world as something to be used, rather than something that is in and of itself. Having developed this Heideggerian reading, I proffer a number of corrections to his account that enable a more accurate, nuanced understanding of synthetic biology. Specifically, I discuss the notion of Ge-stell and submit that multiple systems of 'enframing' may help to make Heidegger's argument more robust. I suggest that synthetic biology may work to reveal the natural world as a standing-reserve of function. I conclude with thoughts on precision and instrumentality.

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“…Finally, examples of application areas are described. It is now just over two years since the article 5 Hard Truths for Synthetic biology was published [1]. The article looked at some of the issues relating to synthetic biology at that time.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Synthetic biology – the state of play

Kitney

Freemont

2012

FEBS Letters

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a b s t r a c tJust over two years ago there was an article in Nature entitled ''Five Hard Truths for Synthetic Biology''. Since then, the field has moved on considerably. A number of economic commentators have shown that synthetic biology very significant industrial potential. This paper addresses key issues in relation to the state of play regarding synthetic biology. It first considers the current background to synthetic biology, whether it is a legitimate field and how it relates to foundational biological sciences. The fact that synthetic biology is a translational field is discussed and placed in the context of the industrial translation process. An important aspect of synthetic biology is platform technology, this topic is also discussed in some detail. Finally, examples of application areas are described. It is now just over two years since the article 5 Hard Truths for Synthetic biology was published [1]. The article looked at some of the issues relating to synthetic biology at that time. As we will show, many things have changed in the interim period. Two years ago there was still considerable doubt about whether or not synthetic biology was likely to have significant industrial impact. It is now pretty clear that the case has been made and that synthetic biology will have very significant impact in a range of fields -leading to the development of new, major industries. The evidence for this statement can be found in a number of sources. For example the bcc report [2] which predicts that:The global value of the synthetic biology market reached $1

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Five hard truths for synthetic biology

Cited by 391 publications

References 10 publications

Designing de novo: interdisciplinary debates in synthetic biology

Designing de novo: interdisciplinary debates in synthetic biology

Standing Reserves of Function: A Heideggerian Reading of Synthetic Biology

Synthetic biology – the state of play

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