Transcript Why Should Our Community Care?

SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY:
NATURE REDESIGNED
Eric Hoffman
Biotechnology Policy Campaigner
Friends of the Earth U.S.
Nature Redesigned
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 Humans
Dominating Nature (to the Extreme)
 Genetic Contamination
 The New Biomass Economy
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”
The Synthetic Future
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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 especially
powerful in this respect because it frees the design of biological
systems from the process of natural evolution. The ability to
sequence and then synthesize DNA (and even to invent new base
code) adds a new layer to the power of nature: giving humans
the ability to design and redesign the biological systems of which
they themselves are part.”
– Drew Endy, Symposium on
Opportunities and Challenges in the
Emerging Field of Synthetic Biology; OECD
The Bug in the Code
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 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 Transfer
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Horizontal gene transfer between synthetic and
wild-type organisms
Viruses multiply by swapping DNA
Vertical gene transfer to other organisms
Xenobiology to the Rescue?
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Attempts to create alternative genetic systems will
not solve all these problems
Alternative genetic systems:
 Xenobiology
 Mirror
Biology
 New nucleotides and base pairs
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DNA remains in environment when organism dies
3) The New Biomass Economy
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From Field to Fuel
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“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?”
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 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
What Does the “Biomass Economy”
Look like?
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http://www.synbioproject.org/library/inventories/map/
http://cdiac.ornl.gov/epubs/ndp/global_carbon/carbon_documenta
tion.html
Amyris: The Bio-Economy Frontier
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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 you
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Eric Hoffman
Biotechnology Policy Campaigner
Friends of the Earth U.S.
[email protected]
202.222.0747