Synthetic Life - Ethics for a New Biology
Abstract
Synthetic biology allows for the direct chemical synthesis of any gene, operon and chromosome. Not only does synthetic biology facilitate copying and editing existing genetic information, it also instantly permits the creation of any imaginable completely novel genetic information without being constrained by nature.
We currently do not have any references for these new realities because they were not previously thinkable by whatever scientific, philosophicalor religious ideas we could consider. With the advent of synthetic biology and bioethics we are, in the end, creating a new common thinking space, which is not only about behavior norms or research protocols, but also about creating a new reality, both in the physical world and in the mind.
Synthetic biology allows for the direct chemical synthesis of any gene, operon and chromosome. Not only does synthetic biology facilitate copying and editing existing genetic information, it also instantly permits the creation of any imaginable completely novel genetic information without being constrained by nature.
We currently do not have any references for these new realities because they were not previously thinkable by whatever scientific, philosophicalor religious ideas we could consider. With the advent of synthetic biology and bioethics we are, in the end, creating a new common thinking space, which is not only about behavior norms or research protocols, but also about creating a new reality, both in the physical world and in the mind.
