Understanding Synthetic Biology

            In this month’s issue of Foreign Affairs Ronald K. Noble published an article titled, “Keeping Science in the Right Hands: Policing the New Biological Frontier.” The frontier to which he is referring encompasses the recent uptick in developments surrounding synthetic biology, including J. Craig Venter’s construction of a man-made DNA genome that enabled him to create an entirely novel organic life form.

These developments are ripe with potential to be put to good use by the scientific community. Scientists could use synthetic biology to “help produce better medicines and cleaner manufacturing processes,” to develop beneficially resistant bacterium, or to attempt to restore extinct species (49).

Unfortunately, the rapid developments made in synthetic biology have also introduced previously nonexistent risks. These risks are exacerbated by the fact that there are few national and international regulations concerning this technology. Most threatening is the intentional modification of preexisting diseases to create “highly pathogenic biological agents” that could infect populations at extremely high rates before an antidote is found (49).

The lack of policing of information makes it easy for criminals to get their hands on biological data. For example, the author notes that in 2006 a group of journalists were successful at ordering a segment of a smallpox genome from a DNA synthesis company and that they had it shipped to them for only slightly more than $60.

In another article in Foreign Affairs on a similar topic, Laurie Garrett notes that information can also be exchanged in less overt ways. Garret says that, “code can be buried anywhere—al Qaeda operatives have hidden attack instructions in porn videos, and a seemingly innocent tweet could direct readers to an obscure Internet location containing genomic code ready to be downloaded to a 3-D printer” (38).

If it gets into the wrong hands, the threat that this rapidly developing information poses to our country and to the globe could be enormous. In order to address this threat, the glaring absence of global security networks in place to monitor the exchange of this information needs to be addressed by the international community.

Noble outlines several, tangible methods for overcoming this security threat that begins with “the development of partnerships among all the relevant disciplines,” including the scientific community, intelligence organizations, and public health entities, and ends with national law enforcement of international agreed upon norms and (53).

The importance of continuing unhindered scientific research is obvious as it will counter naturally mutating diseases and other threats such as those that will inevitably result from impending climate change, however, without regulation of scientific development it is possible that synthetic biology itself will pose an even greater threat to mankind.

© Elizabeth "Elise" Sidamon-Eristoff December 4, 2013