Margret Engelhard - Böcker

"Synthetic biology" is the label of a new technoscientific field with many different facets and agendas. One common aim is to "create life", primarily by using engineering principles to design and modify biological systems for human use. In a wider context, the topic has become one of the big cases in the legitimization processes associated with the political agenda to solve global problems with the aid of (bio-)technological innovation. Conceptual-level and meta-level analyses are needed: we should sort out conceptual ambiguities to agree on what we talk about, and we need to spell out agendas to see the disagreements clearly.The book is based on the interdisciplinary summer school "Analyzing the societal dimensions of synthetic biology", which took place in Berlin in September 2014. The contributions address controversial discussions around the philosophical examination, public perception, moral evaluation and governance of synthetic biology.

Synthetic biology is a dynamic, young, ambitious, attractive, and heterogeneous scientific discipline. It is constantly developing and changing, which makes societal evaluation of this emerging new science a challenging task, prone to misunderstandings. Synthetic biology is difficult to capture, and confusion arises not only regarding which part of synthetic biology the discussion is about, but also with respect to the underlying concepts in use. This book offers a useful toolbox to approach this complex and fragmented field. It provides a biological access to the discussion using a 'layer' model that describes the connectivity of synthetic or semisynthetic organisms and cells to the realm of natural organisms derived by evolution.Instead of directly reviewing the field as a whole, firstly our book addresses the characteristic features of synthetic biology that are relevant to the societal discussion. Some of these features apply only to parts of synthetic biology, whereas others are relevant to synthetic biology as a whole. In the next step, these new features are evaluated with respect to the different areas of synthetic biology. Do we have the right words and categories to talk about these new features? In the third step, traditional concepts like “life” and “artificiality” are scrutinized with regard to their discriminatory power. This approach may help to differentiate the discussion on synthetic biology. Lastly our refined view is utilized for societal evaluation. We have investigated the public views and attitudes to synthetic biology. It also includes the analysis of ethical, risk and legal questions, posed by present and future practices of synthetic biology.This book contains the results of an interdisciplinary research projectand presents the authors’ main findings and recommendations. They are addressed to science, industry, politics and the general public interested in this upcoming field of biotechnology.

"Synthetic biology" is the label of a new technoscientific field with many different facets and agendas. One common aim is to "create life", primarily by using engineering principles to design and modify biological systems for human use. In a wider context, the topic has become one of the big cases in the legitimization processes associated with the political agenda to solve global problems with the aid of (bio-)technological innovation. Conceptual-level and meta-level analyses are needed: we should sort out conceptual ambiguities to agree on what we talk about, and we need to spell out agendas to see the disagreements clearly.The book is based on the interdisciplinary summer school "Analyzing the societal dimensions of synthetic biology", which took place in Berlin in September 2014. The contributions address controversial discussions around the philosophical examination, public perception, moral evaluation and governance of synthetic biology.

Synthetic biology is a dynamic, young, ambitious, attractive, and heterogeneous scientific discipline. It is constantly developing and changing, which makes societal evaluation of this emerging new science a challenging task, prone to misunderstandings. Synthetic biology is difficult to capture, and confusion arises not only regarding which part of synthetic biology the discussion is about, but also with respect to the underlying concepts in use. This book offers a useful toolbox to approach this complex and fragmented field. It provides a biological access to the discussion using a 'layer' model that describes the connectivity of synthetic or semisynthetic organisms and cells to the realm of natural organisms derived by evolution.Instead of directly reviewing the field as a whole, firstly our book addresses the characteristic features of synthetic biology that are relevant to the societal discussion. Some of these features apply only to parts of synthetic biology, whereas others are relevant to synthetic biology as a whole. In the next step, these new features are evaluated with respect to the different areas of synthetic biology. Do we have the right words and categories to talk about these new features? In the third step, traditional concepts like “life” and “artificiality” are scrutinized with regard to their discriminatory power. This approach may help to differentiate the discussion on synthetic biology. Lastly our refined view is utilized for societal evaluation. We have investigated the public views and attitudes to synthetic biology. It also includes the analysis of ethical, risk and legal questions, posed by present and future practices of synthetic biology.This book contains the results of an interdisciplinary research projectand presents the authors’ main findings and recommendations. They are addressed to science, industry, politics and the general public interested in this upcoming field of biotechnology.

Der Mangel an Spenderorganen in der Transplantationsmedizin ist ein Thema von hoher gesellschaftlicher Relevanz. Da jedes Jahr in Deutschland 1.000 Patienten auf der Warteliste sterben, darf die Gesellschaft den Organmangel nicht ignorieren, sondern muss immer wieder von neuem nach Lösungen suchen und ohne Tabus über unterschiedliche Handlungsoptionen diskutieren. Die vorliegende Studie ist das Ergebnis einer interdisziplinären Forschungsarbeit. Sie geht den Ursachen des Organmangels auf den Grund und zeigt Wege zu seiner Behebung auf. Sie richtet sich somit an Wissenschaft, Betroffene, Medizin, Politik und interessierte Öffentlichkeit. Im Fokus der Untersuchung steht neben der Lebendspende vor allem die postmortale Organspende. Entscheidende Faktoren, die zur Erhöhung des Organaufkommens führen können, sind die Beteiligung der Krankenhäuser an der Erkennung potentieller Organspender und die Erlaubnis einer Organentnahme durch Spender oder Angehörige. Es werden Strategien aufgezeigt, diese Faktoren positiv zu beeinflussen.

Recent scientific advances have made it possible to produce biopharmaceuticals in genetically modified plants and animals, such as maize, tobacco, goats, and chickens. This new branch of biotechnology is termed pharming, composed of the terms pharmaceuticals and farming. Pharming constitutes an overlap of red and green biotechnology. It offers the prospect of a quicker, cheaper, and more flexible production of biopharmaceuticals compared with current production processes. This is a promising perspective in light of the rapidly growing market of biopharmaceuticals, although the economic competitiveness of pharming remains to be proven. Besides possible benefits for producers, patients and health care systems, pharming also raises a number of complex ecological, social, moral and legal questions that have as yet not been thoroughly discussed. The present book contains the findings of an interdisciplinary research project that has addressed a large range of questions associated with pharming: An analysis of the state-of-the-art of plant pharming and animal pharming technologies is followed by an assessment of environmental risks related to pharming and welfare risks for pharming animals. Public views and attitudes to pharming are investigated on the basis of a comprehensive survey in 15 countries. Moreover, ethical and legal questions, posed by present and foreseeable future practices of pharming, are analysed. The concluding chapter presents the authors’ main findings and recommendations, addressed to science, industry, politics and general public interested in the chances and risks of this upcoming field of biotechnology.

Recently, the first "zoopharming" product has reached market approval: it is a recombinant human protein for medical use that is produced in the milk of transgenic goats. In addition, other transgenic animals, including faster-growing salmon and environmentally friendly" pigs with reduced levels of phosphate in their faeces are awaiting regulatory approval. These are only some examples of upcoming applications of genetic engineering in farm animals. Other potential applications include traditional breeding goals such as higher milk or meat yields, leaner meat, and disease resistance. While genetic engineering in livestock opens a huge range of possibilities, it also brings about concerns of safety and justification: does genetic engineering affect animal welfare? Is it safe and morally acceptable to apply genetic engineering to farm animals for the various purposes that are envisaged? It is against this background that the Europaische Akademie GmbH and the Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften addressed the topic of transgenic farm animals in an interdisciplinary symposium in 2007.In these proceedings the following topics are covered: an analysis of the state of the art of the technology and its applications, an introduction to the specific application zoopharming (including its historical industrial development and the market for biopharmaceuticals), an assessment of ethical aspects, and considerations regarding the investigation of animal welfare implications of livestock biotechnology.The proceedings address science, industry, politics and the general public interested in the chances and risks of this upcoming field of biotechnology.

Recent scientific advances have made it possible to produce biopharmaceuticals in genetically modified plants and animals, such as maize, tobacco, goats, and chickens. This new branch of biotechnology is termed pharming, composed of the terms pharmaceuticals and farming. Pharming constitutes an overlap of red and green biotechnology. It offers the prospect of a quicker, cheaper, and more flexible production of biopharmaceuticals compared with current production processes. This is a promising perspective in light of the rapidly growing market of biopharmaceuticals, although the economic competitiveness of pharming remains to be proven. Besides possible benefits for producers, patients and health care systems, pharming also raises a number of complex ecological, social, moral and legal questions that have as yet not been thoroughly discussed. The present book contains the findings of an interdisciplinary research project that has addressed a large range of questions associated with pharming: An analysis of the state-of-the-art of plant pharming and animal pharming technologies is followed by an assessment of environmental risks related to pharming and welfare risks for pharming animals. Public views and attitudes to pharming are investigated on the basis of a comprehensive survey in 15 countries. Moreover, ethical and legal questions, posed by present and foreseeable future practices of pharming, are analysed. The concluding chapter presents the authors’ main findings and recommendations, addressed to science, industry, politics and general public interested in the chances and risks of this upcoming field of biotechnology.