SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY: NATURE REDESIGNED
Eric HoffmanBiotechnology Policy Campaigner
Friends of the Earth U.S.
Nature Redesigned
Humans Dominating Nature (to the Extreme)
Genetic Contamination The New Biomass Economy
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1) Humans Dominating Nature (to the Extreme)
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Humans are trying to re-write the basic genetic code that makes up all life on earth
Cells as hardware, DNA as software, life a computer
Biology (and life) as a machine “Standard Biological Parts” “Chasis” “Genetically Engineered Machines”
Synthetic biology “raises the question of what it means to be human….This potential raises questions such as how we should (and how we will) change ourselves and our environments. Synthetic biology may be especiallypowerful in this respect because it frees the design of
biologicalsystems from the process of natural evolution. The ability tosequence and then synthesize DNA (and even to invent new basecode) adds a new layer to the power of nature: giving
humansthe ability to design and redesign the biological systems
of whichthey themselves are part.”
– Drew Endy, Symposium on Opportunities and Challenges in the
Emerging Field of Synthetic Biology; OECD
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The Synthetic Future
The Bug in the Code5
But genetics, biological systems, and life are a incalculably more complex than computer code
Our ability to synthesize DNA and genes has far outpaced our understanding of what these genes do, how they work, the epigenetic factors involved, etc.
Synthetic organisms may be both powerful and UNPREDICTABLE
The synthetic biologist may not be able to correct the problems they cause.
2) Genetic Contamination
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Intentional or unintentional release of synthetic organisms
Impossible to recall or clean up DNA does not disappear once organism
dies
Gene Transfer7
Horizontal gene transfer between synthetic and wild-type organisms
Viruses multiply by swapping DNA Vertical gene transfer to other organisms
Xenobiology to the Rescue?8
Attempts to create alternative genetic systems will not solve all these problems
Alternative genetic systems: Xenobiology Mirror Biology New nucleotides and base pairs
DNA remains in environment when organism dies
3) The New Biomass Economy9
From Field to Fuel10
“Whoever produces abundant biofuels could end up making more than just big bucks —they will make history…The companies, the countries, that succeed in this will be the economic winners of the next age to the same extent that the oil-rich nations are today.” -J. Craig Venter Synthetic Genomics, Inc., 20 April
2009
Who Will Own the “Biomass Economy?”
New “bio-economy” owned by, and for the benefit of, the Global North
Patents are being sought on: Synthesized genes Synthetic organisms & their products Synthetic biology processes
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What Does the “Biomass Economy” Look like?
http://www.synbioproject.org/library/inventories/map/
http://cdiac.ornl.gov/epubs/ndp/global_carbon/carbon_documentation.html
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Amyris: The Bio-Economy Frontier 13
Amyris Biotechnologies, created out of UC Berkeley
First product – anti-malarial Opened up operations in Brazil to
produce biofuels Cheap sugar! Expansion of industrial sugarcane
industry could be devastating for local environment, communities
Thank you14
Eric HoffmanBiotechnology Policy CampaignerFriends of the Earth [email protected]