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The Pros And Cons Of Synthetic Genetics

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The emerging field of synthetic biology and genomic editing has sparked a biological revolution. The possible applications of these techniques for the advancement of health, technology, industry, and agriculture seem endless. However, these new advancements have also raised national security concerns. There has been an expressed concern, by the United States government, for the ease of use and accessibility of these technologies and for their use as a biological weapon (Coats, 2017). It is imperative that these concerns over synthetic biology as a bioterrorism tool does not overshadow the benefits of these technologies. The United States government does need to create a regulatory policy but without infringing upon technological development, promote the use of these technologies for the advancement of healthcare, industry, technology, and agriculture. Most of these concerns are the same concerns that have arisen with other new technologies, tend to be overexaggerated, and lack an understanding of how scientists carry out these experiments. None the less, the concerns must be taken seriously and addressed. However, it is important that policy makers and United States citizens in general are able to see these concerns from a realistic perspective. What is Synthetic Biology? …show more content…

Synthetic biology is the engineering of biology (Serano, 2007). Synthetic biology allows for the synthesis of complex biologically based or inspired systems that display a function not currently found in nature (Serano, 2007). This engineering perspective may be applied at all levels of the hierarchy of biological structures – from individual molecules to whole cells, tissues and organisms (European Commission, 2005). In essence, synthetic biology will enable the design of ‘biological systems’ in a rational and systematic way (European Commission,

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