Team:UPRM/interviews
Interviewees
Hoping to learn about the point of views of Doctors in Philosophy of different areas at the UPRM, we design a guide of questions that explored their perspectives on topics related to Synthetic Biology in Puerto Rico. The interviewees had a low/moderate level of understanding of the emerging science, resulting in genuinely first-impression responses on ethics issues regarding Synthetic Biology. Therefore, even though Puerto Rico penal code is highly influenced by the US laws, at present there is not a single law project, political policy or guideline that explicitly impact the emerging Synthetic Biology field in Puerto Rico. That's why, we also asked the interviewees for comment and suggestions on the public area.
Marcel Castro-Sitiriche, PhD.
Research interest: Appropriate Technology, Engineering Education, and Philosophy of Technology.
Associate Professor in the Electric Engineering Department and Co-Director of Centro Hemisférico en Investigación y Educación y Ciencia Aplicada (CoHemis) UPRM division. He is currently investigating resilient energy alternatives for remote communities, how accessibility to electric energy affects quality of life, and analyzes options for energy sovereignty.
- Interviewee: Dr. Marcel Castro Sitiriche
- Interviewer: Luis G. Montalvo González
- Date of interview: October 14, 2019
- Location of interview: CID, CoHemis OF. 106
Professor Castro-Sitiriche offered a view of a classical ethical issue, reflecting on inequality, white supremacy and access to Synthetic Biology derived technologies. Castro-Sitiriche said: “there is an ongoing dialogue about having the genetical characteristics of your future children being change in a racial aspect. If you think about it, the controversy around Synthetic Biology emerges because of this and the consequences this will have are huge. That’s when you realize how the social condition impact the scientific aspects. If white supremacy would not exist this dialogue would not be a problem.”
Maribella Domenech, PhD.
Research interest: Cancer, Cancer Microenvironment, Tissue Engineering, Microfluidics, Nanotechnology, Biosensors.
Dr. Maribella Domenech Garcia is currently working as a Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering, University of Puerto Rico at Mayagüez. Doctor of Philosophy on Biomedical Engineering, 2010, graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, WI, USA. She serves as editorial member and reviewer of several international reputed journals.
- Interviewee: Dr. Maribella Domenech
- Interviewer: Luis G. Montalvo González
- Date of interview: October 8, 2019
- Location of interview: Department of Chemical Engineering, OF. 5029
Maribella Domenech remarked the need of the implementation of regulations and guidelines addressing SynBio topics. She emphasized in the close relationship that is needed within researchers and politicians to the implementation of accurate and relevant policies. She commented: “If a scientist had an accident in their laboratory because of their irresponsible actions, there should be legal consequences to them. These consequences should be elaborated by people who are expert in this theme (laws), but it should be written with the information and concerns demonstrated by the scientific community. It shouldn't be (written and implemented) only with the politicians, because they have little to no knowledge about this discipline (Synthetic Biology).” Some ideas that she suggested during the interview were: (1) the need to regulate the safety levels and parameters specifications on community laboratories “I have divided opinions in this particular question (about Synthetic Biology community laboratories). I feel like I can compare this process with the production of handcrafted beers, which many people are doing right now and not necessarily have security norms. In the case of Synthetic Biology, it should be taken into consideration that you can build an organism that can potentially represent a risk to the environment... Another fact you have to take into consideration, is the perception of the general public about this (Synthetic Biology community laboratories) and the importance of doing this, because we don't want another case of miscommunication... That could affect the perspective of the general public in Synthetic Biology.” (2) the creation of a mitigation risk plan that encompasses possibly negatives effects on humans or ecosystems due to Synthetic Biology devices misuse.
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