BioEconomy: Promise and Perils of Synthetic Biology

Dr. Nathan Hillson, Director of Synthetic Biology Informatics at Joint BioEnergy Institute based in California, USA participates in Risk Roundup to discuss “BioEconomy: Promise and Perils of Synthetic Biology”. Overview Today, we the humans are no longer confined to what nature must offer.  The advances in science and technology has given us the capability to create “living things”. While what nature has given is still the foundation to our natural biological ecosystem, we, the humans are now capable to build on this foundation and create a man-made, synthetic bio-ecosystem of our desire and definition. We have reached a point where tools and technology to define and design entire human and non-human genomes have caught up to our ability to construct them. In the coming years, we will be able to define, design and construct any cell, organism or any biological species we want—with a growing selection of genome from human, non-human and or any other living species. The time is almost here, where the ability to create or manipulate “life” seems restricted only by human imagination as, we will now be able to build any cell, organism or biological species up from scratch. There is a growing belief that there’s no such thing as an “artificial gene” and what matters to a gene is DNA sequence, and not how one makes that DNA sequence. It is this ability to synthesize DNA sequence from living and non-living species that has “completely transformed” much of everything. As a result, the “industrial age” is slowly but steadily drawing to a close to be gradually replaced by an era of “biological engineering”. Nations are going to transition from an economy that relied on “machines” to the one that relies on “biology.” Although we speak about the “Bioeconomy”, a biological future that can be engineered the way we want, it is important to understand and evaluate whether we have enough knowledge to prevent the risks that comes with the advances in Synthetic Biology, on which the BioEconomy is being built? It is therefore not only important to understand and evaluate the changing nature of “economy”, its impact on respective nations: its government, industries, organizations, academia and individuals, but also the independent and interdependent risks of Synthetic biology, the emerging bioeconomy and the impact due to decline of industrial age. No scientific achievement has promised so much, or has come with clear possibilities, and potential for global transformation, and none has brought opportunity for deliberate abuse and misuse, or existential risks to the human species as Synthetic Biology. Time is now to talk about risks of Synthetic Biology! For more please watch the Risk Roundup Webcast or hear Risk Roundup Podcast About the Guest Dr. Nathan Hillson, is the Director of Synthetic Biology Informatics at Joint BioEnergy Institute based in California, USA. He is also the Founder and Chief Scientific Officer of TeselaGen Biotechnology. He leads the Synthetic Biology Informatics initiative of Joint Genomic Institute and is the Principal Investigator at Agile BioFoundry. He is the Department Head of Biodesign at Berkley Lab and has authored many publications. About the Host of Risk Roundup Jayshree Pandya (née Bhatt) is a visionary leader, who is working passionately with imagination, insight and boldness to achieve “Global Peace through Risk Management”. It is her strong belief that collaboration between and across nations: its government, industries, organizations and academia (NGIOA) will be mutually beneficial to all—for not only in the identification and understanding of critical risks facing one nation, but also for managing the interconnected and interdependent risks facing all nations. She calls on nations to build a shared sense of identity and pur...