ETC Group News Release 17 October 2007 www.etcgroup.org
Syns of Omission: Civil Society Organizations Respond to Report on Synthetic Biology Governance from the J. Craig Venter Institute and Alfred P. Sloan Foundation A report released today on policy options for governance of synthetic biology is a disappointing effort that fails to address wider societal concerns about the rapid deployment of a powerful and controversial new technology. Synthetic biology aims to commercialize new biological parts, devices and living organisms that are constructed from synthetic DNA - including dangerous pathogens. Synthetic biologists are attempting to harness cells as tiny factories for industrial production of chemicals, including pharmaceuticals and fuels. ETC Group describes the synthetic biology approach as "extreme genetic engineering." The report, authored by scientists and employees from the J. Craig Venter Institute, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the Center for Strategic & International Studies (Washington, D.C.) was funded by a half-million dollar grant from the U.S.-based Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and billed as a "project to examine the societal implications of synthetic genomics."1 The study was more than two years in the making, but the report makes no policy recommendations and failed to properly consult civil society. While the authors do acknowledge possible bio-error (i.e., synbio accidents that cause unintended harm to human health and the environment), the emphasis is on how to impede bioterrorists "in a post-September 11 world." "This report is a partial consideration of governance by a partisan group of authors," explains Jim Thomas of ETC Group. "Its authors are 'Synthusiasts' - or, unabashed synthetic biology boosters - who are primarily concerned about holding down costs and regulatory burdens that could allegedly stymie the rapid development of the new industry. By focusing narrowly on safety and security in a U.S.- centric context, the report conveniently overlooks important questions related to power, control and the economic impacts of synthetic biology. The authors have ignored the first and most basic questions: Is synthetic biology socially acceptable or desirable? Who should decide? Who will control the technology, and what are its potential impacts?" The report's authors include representatives from institutions with a vested interest in commercialization of synthetic biology. According to the J. Craig Venter Institute, one of the three institutions that led the study, scientists are just weeks or months away from announcing the creation of the world's first-ever living bacterium with entirely synthetic DNA and a novel genome. Scientists from the Venter Institute have already applied for patents on the artificial microbe, dubbed "Synthia,"and Craig Venter predicts that it could be the first billion or trillion dollar organism. The report fails to address issues of ownership, monopoly practices or intellectual property claims arising from synthetic biology. "The sixty-page report has oodles of input from a small circle of scientists and policy 'experts,' but the 20-month long study fails to incorporate views of civil society and social movements," points out Hope Shand, ETC Group's Research Director. "An insular process like the one that produced the Sloan report instills little confidence in the results." The economic and technical barriers to synthetic genomics are collapsing. Using a laptop computer, published gene sequence information and mail-order synthetic DNA, it is becoming routine to construct genes or entire genomes from scratch - including those of lethal pathogens. The tools for DNA synthesis technologies are advancing at break-neck pace - they're becoming cheaper, faster and widely accessible. The authors acknowledge this reality, and evaluate several options for addressing it. One proposal aimed at "legitimate users" of the technology - those working in industry labs, for example - is to broaden the responsibilities of Institutional Biosafety Committees, which were established (in the US) to assess the biosafety and environmental risks of proposed recombinant DNA experiments. Edward Hammond, Director of the Sunshine Project, a biotech and bioweapons watchdog, argues, "Institutional Biosafety Committees are a documented disaster. IBCs aren't up to their existing task of overseeing genetic engineering research, much less ready to absorb new synthetic biology and security mandates. The authors of this report are aware of the abject failure of voluntary compliance by IBCs, including by the Venter Institute's own IBC. So it is very difficult to interpret their suggestion that IBCs oversee synthetic biology as anything but a cynical attempt to avoid effective governance." Options for governing synthetic biology must not be set by the synthetic biologists themselves - broad societal debate on synbio's wider implications must come first. Synthetic microbes should be treated as dangerous until proven harmless and strong democratic oversight should be mandatory - not optional. Earlier this year the ETC Group recommended a ban on environmental release of de novo synthetic organisms until wide societal debate and strong governance are in place. ETC and other civil society organizations have called repeatedly for an inclusive, wide ranging public dialogue process on societal implications and oversight options for Synthetic Biology. The full text of "Synthetic Genomics: Options for Governance" is available here: http://www.jcvi.org/ ETC Group's January 2007 report on synthetic biology, Extreme Genetic Engineering, is available here: http://www.etcgroup.org/en/materials/publications.html?pub_id=602 Backgrounder: Open Letter on Synthetic Biology from Civil Society, May 2006: http://www.etcgroup.org/en/materials/publications.html?pub_id=11 For further information: ETC Group (Montreal, Canada) Jim Thomas [EMAIL PROTECTED] Tel: +1 514 516-5759 ETC Group (Carrboro, NC, USA) Hope Shand Kathy Jo Wetter [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Tel: +1 919 960-5223 ETC Group (Ottawa, Canada) Pat Mooney [EMAIL PROTECTED] Tel: +1 613 2412267 Sunshine Project (Austin, TX, USA) Edward Hammond [EMAIL PROTECTED] Tel: +1 512-494-0545 1 See, for example, MIT news release, June 28, 2005, "Study to explore risks, benefits of synthetic genomics," available on the Internet: http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2005/syntheticbio.html ----- >Source: http://www.guardian .co.uk/science/ 2007/oct/ >06/genetics. climatechange > > > >I am creating artificial life, declares US gene >pioneer >· Scientist has made synthetic chromosome >· Breakthrough could combat global warming > >Ed Pilkington in New York >The Guardian >Saturday October 6 2007 >Craig Venter, the controversial DNA researcher >involved in the race to decipher the human genetic >code, has built a synthetic chromosome out of >laboratory chemicals and is poised to announce the >creation of the first new artificial life form on >Earth. > >The announcement, which is expected within weeks and >could come as early as Monday at the annual meeting of >his scientific institute in San Diego, California, >will herald a giant leap forward in the development of >designer genomes. It is certain to provoke heated >debate about the ethics of creating new species and >could unlock the door to new energy sources and >techniques to combat global warming. > >Mr Venter told the Guardian he thought this landmark >would be "a very important philosophical step in the >history of our species. We are going from reading our >genetic code to the ability to write it. That gives us >the hypothetical ability to do things never >contemplated before". > >The Guardian can reveal that a team of 20 top >scientists assembled by Mr Venter, led by the Nobel >laureate Hamilton Smith, has already constructed a >synthetic chromosome, a feat of virtuoso >bio-engineering never previously achieved. Using >lab-made chemicals, they have painstakingly stitched >together a chromosome that is 381 genes long and >contains 580,000 base pairs of genetic code. > >The DNA sequence is based on the bacterium Mycoplasma >genitalium which the team pared down to the bare >essentials needed to support life, removing a fifth of >its genetic make-up. The wholly synthetically >reconstructed chromosome, which the team have >christened Mycoplasma laboratorium, has been >watermarked with inks for easy recognition. > >It is then transplanted into a living bacterial cell >and in the final stage of the process it is expected >to take control of the cell and in effect become a new >life form. The team of scientists has already >successfully transplanted the genome of one type of >bacterium into the cell of another, effectively >changing the cell's species. Mr Venter said he was >"100% confident" the same technique would work for the >artificially created chromosome. > >The new life form will depend for its ability to >replicate itself and metabolise on the molecular >machinery of the cell into which it has been injected, >and in that sense it will not be a wholly synthetic >life form. However, its DNA will be artificial, and it >is the DNA that controls the cell and is credited with >being the building block of life. > >Mr Venter said he had carried out an ethical review >before completing the experiment. "We feel that this >is good science," he said. He has further heightened >the controversy surrounding his potential breakthrough >by applying for a patent for the synthetic bacterium. > >Pat Mooney, director of a Canadian bioethics >organisation, ETC group, said the move was an enormous >challenge to society to debate the risks involved. >"Governments, and society in general, is way behind >the ball. This is a wake-up call - what does it mean >to create new life forms in a test-tube?" > >He said Mr Venter was creating a "chassis on which you >could build almost anything. It could be a >contribution to humanity such as new drugs or a huge >threat to humanity such as bio-weapons" . > >Mr Venter believes designer genomes have enormous >positive potential if properly regulated. In the >long-term, he hopes they could lead to alternative >energy sources previously unthinkable. Bacteria could >be created, he speculates, that could help mop up >excessive carbon dioxide, thus contributing to the >solution to global warming, or produce fuels such as >butane or propane made entirely from sugar. > >"We are not afraid to take on things that are >important just because they stimulate thinking," he >said. "We are dealing in big ideas. We are trying to >create a new value system for life. When dealing at >this scale, you can't expect everybody to be happy." _______________________________________________ Biofuel mailing list Biofuel@sustainablelists.org http://sustainablelists.org/mailman/listinfo/sustainablelorgbiofuel Biofuel at Journey to Forever: http://journeytoforever.org/biofuel.html Search the combined Biofuel and Biofuels-biz list archives (70,000 messages): http://www.mail-archive.com/biofuel@sustainablelists.org/
