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Team:UCL London/Ethics/Introduction
From 2009.igem.org
Introduction
The deliberate exploitation of selective power has become common in experimental biology and leads to novel areas in science such as Genetic Engineering. Synthetic Biology is a branch off Genetic engineering and also stems from the Charles Darwin theory on Artificial selection. Synthetic Biology is defined by the design and fabrication of biological parts/systems that both do and do not already exist in the world we live in today. Many scientists such as: Stanely Cohen and Herbert Boyer (in 1973 who invented the technique of DNA cloning), Charles Darwin, and Waclaw Szybalski who introduced the term “synthetic biology” have been criticised on their work in relation to various ethical issues. Our UCL_London team endeavours to define and explain any ethical points which may underline in areas such as genetic engineering and artificial selection.
The UCL_London iGEM team went the extra step to conduct interviews with staff and students across disciplines at UCL; to find out their view on synthetic biology. We intend to raise awareness at UCL about synthetic biology as well as retrieve primary information. Moreover, a questionnaire has been created which can be accessed by clicking the following link:
http://FreeOnlineSurveys.com/rendersurvey.asp?sid=nnrzscgojwnwv76650008
