Managing the unimaginable Regulatory responses to the challenges posed by synthetic biology and synthetic genomics

摘要

The past few years have seen a growing academic and commercial interest in synthetic genomics and synthetic biology. We refer collectively to these technologies as synthetic life sciences. They involve several distinct engineering strategies drawn from the convergence of molecular genetics, chemistry, nanotechnology and electronic engineering. Synthetic genomics can be defined as the creation of either new or already existing individual genes, chromosomes and even whole genomes through the assembly of DNA molecules. Synthetic biology encompasses the design and construction of new biological parts, devices and systems— as well as the re-design of existing, natural biological systems—for practical purposes (EC, 2005). It often uses the technologies and tools of synthetic genomics, but this is not a prerequisite.