Eric Hoffman on a Very Discreet Newcomer: Synthetic Biology
        
            By Eric Hoffman, 
                A World of Science
             | 01. 11. 2013
        
                    
                                    
                    
                                                                                                                                    
                                                                            
                              
    
  
  
    
  
          
  
      
    
            Synthetic biology was one of the themes discussed at the Assises du vivant, a forum organized jointly by UNESCO and the French NGO Vivagora in Paris on 30 November. Synthetic biology is still in its infancy but it has great ambitions: to create entirely new life forms. Borrowing techniques from engineering, the synthetic biologist assembles different parts (genes) to build an entirely new circuit. At the Assises du vivant, one proponent suggested that synthetic bacteria could be designed to glow whenever they detected explosives in the soil, alerting to buried anti-personnel mines. Others cited the potential for synthetic biofuels, biodegradable plastics and cancer drugs. But some participants were more circumspect. ‘Have the necessary safeguards been put in place? ‘, they asked. ‘Could existing organisms not fulfill the same role? Do we know how existing species will interact with these new life forms of our own creation? And what guarantee is there that they will function in the way we intended? We put these questions to Eric Hoffman, a science and technology policy expert with the US branch of the NGO...
 
       
 
  
 
    
    
  
   
                        
                                                                                
                 
                                                    
                            
                                  
    
  
  
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            GeneWatch UK has prepared a briefing on the genetic modification of nature for the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Congress in October 2025
The upcoming Congress claims to be “where the world comes together to set priorities and drive conservation and sustainable development action.” A major concern for those on the outside is that the Congress may advance plans to develop and encourage the use of synthetic biology in nature conservation. This could at first glance sound like...
 
       
 
 
  
      
    
    
                
                        
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                
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