What rough beast? Synthetic biology, uncertainty, and the future of biosecurity.
Synthetic biology seeks to create modular biological parts that can be assembled into useful devices, allowing the modification of biological systems with greater reliability, at lower cost, with greater speed, and by a larger pool of people than has been the case with traditional genetic engineerin...
| Published in: | Politics & the Life Sciences Vol. 28; no. 2; pp. 2 - 27 |
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| Main Authors: | , , |
| Format: | Article |
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Association for Politics & the Life Sciences
September 2009
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| Online Access: | View this record in EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ssf&AN=510888188&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: ssf uiTerm: 510888188 longDbName: Social Sciences Full Text (H.W. Wilson) uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 07309384 PFC jtl: Politics & the Life Sciences issn: 07309384 maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: September 2009 vid: 28 iid: 2 pid: 15955 pub: Association for Politics & the Life Sciences artinfo: ui: 510888188 10.2990/28_2_2 ppf: 2 ppct: 25 formats: fmt: – @attributes: type: T – @attributes: type: C tig: atl: What rough beast? Synthetic biology, uncertainty, and the future of biosecurity. aug: au: Mukunda, Gautam Oye, Kenneth A. Mohr, Scott C. su: Biological weapons Synthetic biology Genetic engineering Bioterrorism prevention United States sug: subj: United States Biological weapons Synthetic biology Genetic engineering Bioterrorism prevention ab: Synthetic biology seeks to create modular biological parts that can be assembled into useful devices, allowing the modification of biological systems with greater reliability, at lower cost, with greater speed, and by a larger pool of people than has been the case with traditional genetic engineering. We assess the offensive and defensive security implications of synthetic biology based on the insights of leading synthetic biologists into how the technology may develop, the projections of practicing biosecurity authorities on changes in the security context and potential security applications of synthetic biology, and joint appraisals of policy relevant sources of uncertainty. Synthetic biology appears to have minimal security implications in the near term, create modest offensive advantages in the medium term, and strengthen defensive capabilities against natural and engineered biological threats and enable novel potential offensive uses in the long term. To maximize defensive and minimize offensive effects of synthetic biology despite uncertainty, this essay suggests a combination of policy approaches, including community-based efforts, regulation and surveillance, further research, and the deliberate design of security and safety features into the technology. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: N holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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