Great question! - I'm glad that folks are thinking about safety, and that it's part of the conversation here.
Earlier this Summer I was invited to attend the FBI/DIYBio outreach event in Walnut Creek, CA. (Disclosure: I'm co-founder of http://synbiota.com - we provide web-based tools and crowd-innovation environment for SynBio) Of course, one of the biggest take-aways from this meeting is that very special attention needs to be payed to how we manage safety.
The simple fact is that right now the ability to create a "Select Agent" (catch-all term for bad biological things) from scratch using this technology is currently out of reach of anyone in the DIYBio scene. That said, it may be just a matter of time until technology gets to the point where it is possible.
There are positive uses for having access to DNA code for a Select Agent, e.g. creating a bio-sensor that will warn us against contamination, or creating an antidote to the offending agent, so it may not be in our interest to completely ban this DNA code.
The good news is that in SynBio we've not created anything from scratch - all that we know comes cribbed from Mother Nature's recipes. Knowing this, each biologic has it's own DNA signature that can be used to screen out any potentially dangerous projects before they are synthesized.
This is just scratching the surface of this question. A great resource to learn about the ethics surrounding SynBio is the SynBio Project by the Woodrow Wilson International Centre for Scholars: http://www.synbioproject.org
Interesting side: When we were at the FBI/DIYBio outreach event we all received a deck of Pokemon-style "Select Agent" playing cards, which are pretty unique. We have some pics of them posted on our blog: http://synbiota.posterous.com/tag/playingcards
Some people think these cards are a bit creepy, while other's can't get enough of them! I'd love to hear HN's thoughts on this!
Ahh, forgot to mention; we've also recently partnered with Genomikon (http://genomikon.ca) to offer biological kits (think Arduino for bio) through Synbiota (all documentation and DNA code is hosted and editable on the platform).
So far we've only sent out one kit to a DIYBio group (still finalizing up production), but we hope it's the first of many.
I'm a Co-Founder of Synbiota a startup in this area. We've shipped a beta of GENtle, an open-source, web-based (HTML5) DNA editor that you can try right now at:
We're also in closed beta of our integrated environment for collaboration, project management, file storage and DNA synthesis ordering etc. We have a number of iGEM teams as well as some DIYBio groups that are currently using the platform in their everyday work, which is pretty cool ;-)
We've been a part of Mozilla's WebFWD accelerator since last Fall which has been a huge boost for us. Definitely check them out if you are working on a web-standards based startup!
We also recently launched the S Prize - our contest to incentivize the development of open-source plug-ins for GENtle (the DNA editor) - we have a cash purse of $5k on the line for any developers who submit the most useful and delightful contributions.
This big idea is that in about 2 years there will be a massive paradigm-shift from traditional wet-lab work (beakers, people in white coats) to DNA Synthesis, which is basically a laser printer for DNA.
DNA is the code of life and we think there will be an explosion in the number of biological projects and biological hackers in the near future. We're creating GENtle (open source) and Synbiota to be an entirely web-based crowd-innovation platform for Biotech.
I love discussing the future of Biotech - hopefully there will be some good questions in this thread!
Regards,
Connor Dickie
Co-Founder Synbiota & Mozilla Fellow
We are excited to announce the inaugural SPrize, a competition in partnership with Synbiota, Mozilla WebFWD and Magnus Manske (the original developer of the MediaWiki platform) to recognize and reward innovative developments in Open Source software tools for Synthetic and DIY Biology.
With today's announcement we are taking a stand against hard-to-use, inaccessible and proprietary tools, and all the problems created as a result. By offering a series of cash prizes as well as global bragging rights we hope to accelerate the development of useful, exciting and amazing plug-ins for GENtle, the Open Source, Web-Based DNA Design app.
- Can your Javascript skills unlock the potential of a truly 21st Century technology?
- Are you a Big Thinker or Artist with an interest in DIY Bio?
- Enter the SPrize & win cash while contributing to what’s next in Science & Technology!