Taken from  http://nano.foe.org.au/node/96

The Synthetic Biology Community is expecting to issue some sort of public position/ statement on voluntary governance of Synthetic Biology at the upcoming Synthetic Biology 2.0 conference on the 21st May in Berkeley. They see this as their version of the Asilomar Conference that imposed a temporary moratorium on Genetic Engineering back in the early seventies.

Synthetic Biology is a new area of science made possible by recent breakthroughs in genetic engineering and nanotechnology. It encapsulates the design and construction of new biological parts, devices, and systems, as well as the re-design of existing, natural biological systems. It is a powerful new technology that raises profound ethical questions as well as posing very obvious and serious
risks of bioterrorism among otherthings.

The upcoming self-regulation announcement won't be a moratorium - it will just be a few statements about principles that they will all agree to but the reason they are doing it is to show to the rest of the world that they are ahead of the risks and able to manage and govern the technology without any regulation.

You can listen to a recent MIT “town hall” meeting that discussed self-governance of synthetic biology or to read or participate in a discussion forum of participants in the upcoming Synthetic Biology conference visit  http://openwetware.org/wiki/Synthetic_Biology

Judging from the discussions so far, the scientists are only starting to scratch the surface of the political and ethical issues surrounding synthetic biology.

For more information about nano/bio visit  http://nano.foe.org.au


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