Current Synthetic and Systems Biology
Open Access

Abstract

Synthetic Biology and Risk: Is this Really an Ethical Dilema?

Beriain I de M

We live in troubled times, when the evolution of biology is following a bewildering pace. If a few years ago we were all surprised by the speed with which the human genome was decoded, nowadays it is more than possible that many of the challenges that even at that point seemed complex to face are within our reach. The most accurate example might come from the field of genetic engineering. Ten years ago, its general application seemed to be quite far from reality. However, it is currently a possibility that is about to come true thanks to the CRISPR/Cas9 technology. Synthetic biology is not an exception to this universal trend. The latest scientific advances, such as the redesign and production of a fully functional chromosome extracted from baker’s yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) are evidence that we are very close to startling developments in a very near future.