Synthetic biology & human health: some initial thoughts on the ethical questions and how we ought to approach them.

The emerging field of synthetic biology aims to move beyond our current state of being able to read and manipulate genetic code to being able to write it. Drawing on the other disciplines such as engineering it will allow scientists to create new artificial biological systems as well as modify and redesign systems which already exist in nature. This is likely to result in a range of new and innovative applications. This essay has three aims. First, it provides a brief introduction to synthetic biology, explains what it is, some of the ways in which it has been defined and some of its possible future applications. Second, the essay considers some of the ethical questions which synthetic biology may raise. Finally, the essay reflects on how we ought to answer these sorts of questions and suggests a more reflective, philosophical approach.

Synthetic Biology & Human Health: Some initial thoughts on the ethical questions and how we ought to approach them

El emergente campo de la biología sintética se propone ir más allá de nuestro estado actual de poder leer y manipular el código genético a ser capaces de escribirlo. Sobre la base de otras disciplinas, como la ingeniería, que permitirá a los científicos crear nuevos sistemas biológicos artificiales así como modificar y rediseñar los sistemas que ya existen en la naturaleza. Esto, probablemente, dará como resultado una serie de aplicaciones nuevas e innovadoras. Este artículo tiene tres objetivos. En primer lugar proporciona una breve introducción a la biología sintética, explica qué es, algunas de las formas en que ha sido definida y algunas de sus posibles aplicaciones futuras. En segundo lugar, el trabajo examina algunos de los interrogantes éticos que la biología sintética puede suscitar. Por último, el artículo reflexiona sobre cómo debemos responder a este tipo de preguntas y sugiere un enfoque filosófico más reflexivo

The emerging field of synthetic biology aims to move beyond our current state of being able to read and manipulate genetic code to benign able to write it. Drawing on the other disciplines such as engineering it will allow scientists to create new artificial biological systems as well as modify and redesign systems which already biological systems as well as modify and redesign systems which already exists in nature. This is likely to result in a range of new and innovative applications. This essay has three aims. First, it provides a brief introduction to synthetic biology, explains what it is, some of the ways in which it has been defined and some of its possible future applications. Second, the essay considers some of the ethical questions which synthetic biology may raise. Finally, the essay reflects on how we ought to answer these sorts of questions and suggests a more reflective, philosophical approach (AU)