Team:Lund/SynthEthics

iGEM Lund 2019

After visiting companies specializing in probiotics we started to investigate the current legislation governing over synthetic biology in the EU and the US. At the BioBrick event at DTU we decided to collaborate with iGEM Copenhagen, since they were working with ingestible GMOs (yeast) which would be governed by similar regulations. This started a legislation project with the aim to research the current laws.

We at iGEM Lund took the lead in the project. We contacted the main legislative authorities in Sweden: Gentekniknämnden (The Swedish Gene Technology Advisory Board) and livsmedelsverket (National Food Agency). We engaged in dialogue with Marie Nyman, Head of The Swedish Gene Technology Advisory Board and Ann Mohlén Årling, the Principal Regulatory Officer and Legal Advisor at the National Food Agency. We concluded that a probiotic GMO would be difficult to market due to a lack of specificity and coverage in the current laws.

At the NiC iGEM Stockholm decided to join the collaboration, and we discussed the next steps. Due to the large amount of research we’ve done at iGEM Lund, iGEM Stockholm invited us to talk about the current regulations in the EU and the US regarding synthetic biology at an event they hosted.

After extensive research, we decided that instead of aiming for a supplemental law, it would be more realistic to go one step more fundamental and discuss the ethics on which laws about synthetic biology are to be founded. This started the bioethics project.

Together with iGEM Stockholm, we settled on a methodology with the aim to thoroughly investigate the ethics of the future of genetic engineering. The methodology is based on collaboration with students to come up with relevant questions that requires an answer in order to establish a moral foundation. The questions are then to be distributed amongst peers, professors and other iGEM-teams in order to get their view on what the future of synthetic biology and genetic engineering should look like.

A team of 8 students from universities all over the world were gathered in order to formulate ethical dilemmas and thus the project set off. In August two forms had been designed; one for educated experts, and one for the public. The forms were sent out to their relative audiences, and the collaborations began.

At the present moment SynthEthics have gotten mentions and uses in many areas, such as debates (for example at a debate-event iGEM Team CMUQ hosted), ethic-classes, radio and podcasts, and we’re also getting ready for a major event regarding the future of synthetic biology. We’ve received a lot of feedback many responses and are preparing for a culminating article in the area.

Click here to view the form for the experts, and feel free to respond to it!

Click here to view the form for the public, and feel free to respond to it!

We can conclude that the opinions of the public are very scattered. Luckily 88% agree that it is morally acceptable to change the functions of a cell in a micro-organism for programmed use (unfortunately 12% disagree with the practice of synthetic biology), something we considered a safe bet when formulating the questions. However, there is massive disagreement regarding, roughly, everything else. Below are some of the results taken from the public form presented in pie-charts.

The opinions we've gathered from debates and the opinions of experts aren't in perfect unison either. A constant debate between keeping humanity and our ecosystem intact by not altering it, and the oppositve view of altering as much as we so we can achieve more than evolution could, are in opposition. Many recognize that a middle-ground has to be found. A quest we hope SynthEthics can be a part of.

Is it morally acceptable to change the functions of a cell in a micro-organism for programmed use?

Should genetic engineering be used to eliminate the genes causing mental variations (e.g. Autism, Bipolar Disorder, etc)?

It is known that genes affect many, if not all, of our cognitive and physical traits to some degree. Should genetic engineering be used to enhance human mental, physical and social abilities to accommodate for the modern world, politics and culture?

Should modifications that affect the above-mentioned traits be available even if everyone does not have access to them?

Explore the conflict between intellectual property rights (rights to an idea or concept) and synthetic biology. In 2013, the US Supreme High Court ruled that human genes could not be patented but left engineered DNA open to being patented. Should you be able to patent engineered human genes?

Should a synthetically engineered organism receive the same rights as the original non-engineered organism (organism being anything from bacteria to humans)?

Would it be acceptable to change the functions of a human cell for programmed use?

Should much focus be given to analysing the consequences of biological threats which have a low probability of occurrence but come with terrible consequences?

Is it morally acceptable to genetically remove the genes responsible for behaviour in domesticated animals such as fear of slaughter or confinement to reduce the suffering they experience during the domestication?

Should we genetically engineer endangered species for the purpose of preservation (by increasing its fitness)?

Should we genetically engineer pests to decrease their survival-ability and possibly remove them to extinction?

The future of synthetic biology and genetic engineering may allow the revival of extinct species. Is it ethically correct to bring back an ancient species for our benefit or pleasure? E.g. Theme parks or zoos.

Imagine, if all spiders died, flies would multiply rapidly and the world would seek a new ecological equilibrium. Should we seek to bring back spiders to counter the shift?

Synthetic biology could one day allow us to engineer organisms that can thrive on other planets. If we encounter signs of simple life (recognisable as bacteria or lower) on other planets, is it ethical to invade these planets with our genetically engineered organisms for our benefit? Imagine a planet-sized farm with huge economical gain.