Synthetic Biology 2020: Frontiers in Risk Analysis and Governance

Description

Synthetic biology offers powerful remedies for some of the world’s most intractable problems, but these solutions are clouded by uncertainty and risk that few strategies are available to address. The incentives for continued development of this emerging technology are prodigious and obvious, and the public deserves assurances that all potential downsides are duly considered and minimized accordingly. Incorporating social science analysis within the innovation process may impose constraints, but its simultaneous support in making the end products more acceptable to society at large should be considered a worthy trade-off. Contributing authors in this volume represent diverse perspectives related to synthetic biology’s social sciences, and reflect on different areas of risk analysis and governance that have developed for the field. Such perspectives include leading scholarly discussion pertaining to risk assessment, governance, ethics, and communication. The chapters of this volume note that while the first twenty years of synthetic biology development have focused strongly on technological innovation and product development, the next twenty should emphasize the synergy between developers, policymakers, and publics to generate the most beneficial, well governed, and transparent technologies and products possible. Many chapters in this volume provide new data and approaches that demonstrate the feasibility for multi-stakeholder efforts involving policymakers, regulators, industrial developers, workers, experts, and societal representatives to share responsibilities in the production of effective and acceptable governance in the face of uncertain risk probabilities. A full consideration of such perspectives may prevent a world of draconian regulations based on an insufficient or incomplete understanding of the science that underpins synthetic biology, as well as any hesitancy or fear by the public to adopt its eventual products. Front Matter ....Pages i-xxv Synthetic Biology: Perspectives on Risk Analysis, Governance, Communication, and ELSI (Benjamin D. Trump, Christopher L. Cummings, S. E. Galaitsi, Jennifer Kuzma, Igor Linkov)....Pages 1-18 Synthetic Biology: Research Needs for Assessing Environmental Impacts (Christopher M. Warner, Sarah R. Carter, Richard F. Lance, Fiona H. Crocker, Heather N. Meeks, Bryn L. Adams et al.)....Pages 19-50 Transfish: The Multiple Origins of Transgenic Salmon (Hallam Stevens)....Pages 51-63 The State of Synthetic Biology Scholarship: A Case Study of Comparative Metrics and Citation Analysis (Jeffrey C. Cegan)....Pages 65-83 Synthetic Biology, GMO, and Risk: What Is New, and What Is Different? (Benjamin D. Trump)....Pages 85-105 Estimating and Predicting Exposure to Products from Emerging Technologies (Daniel A. Vallero)....Pages 107-142 Mosquitoes Bite: A Zika Story of Vector Management and Gene Drives (David M. Berube)....Pages 143-163 Synthetic Biology Industry: Biosafety Risks to Workers (Vladimir Murashov, John Howard, Paul Schulte)....Pages 165-182 Designing a “Solution-Focused” Governance Paradigm for Synthetic Biology: Toward Improved Risk Assessment and Creative Regulatory Design (Adam M. Finkel)....Pages 183-222 A Solution-Focused Comparative Risk Assessment of Conventional and Emerging Synthetic Biology Technologies for Fuel Ethanol (Emily Wells, Benjamin D. Trump, Adam M. Finkel, Igor Linkov)....Pages 223-255 An Initial Framework for the Environmental Risk Assessment of Synthetic Biology-Derived Organisms with a Focus on Gene Drives (Wayne G. Landis, Ethan A. Brown, Steven Eikenbary)....Pages 257-268 Biology Without Borders: Need for Collective Governance? (Todd Kuiken)....Pages 269-295 Synthetic Biology and Risk Regulation: The Case of Singapore (Benjamin D. Trump, George Siharulidze, Christopher L. Cummings)....Pages 297-312 Effective and Comprehensive Governance of Biological Risks: A Network of Networks Approach for Sustainable Capacity Building (Tatyana Novossiolova, Lela Bakanidze, Dana Perkins)....Pages 313-349 The Role of Expert Disciplinary Cultures in Assessing Risks and Benefits of Synthetic Biology (Christina Ndoh, Christopher L. Cummings, Jennifer Kuzma)....Pages 351-370 Scientists’ and the Publics’ Views of Synthetic Biology (Emily L. Howell, Dietram A. Scheufele, Dominique Brossard, Michael A. Xenos, Seokbeom Kwon, Jan Youtie et al.)....Pages 371-387 Dignity as a Faith-Based Consideration in the Ethics of Human Genome Editing (Rev. Nicanor Pier Giorgio Austriaco)....Pages 389-397 Highlights on the Risk Governance for Key Enabling Technologies: From Risk Denial to Ethics (Myriam Merad)....Pages 399-408 Back Matter ....Pages 409-421