Do It Yourself Biology

This short interview with scientist Rob Carlson published on The Economist website tells where Synthetic biology is now and where it might be heading in the future. Fascinating...



Now, with the presence of many products on the web, the Do It Yourself Biology (DIYBiology) is something that can happen in your own garage. This is what they call citizen and amateur Biology.

DIYbio is an organization that aims to help make biology a worthwhile pursuit for citizen scientists, amateur biologists, and DIY biological engineers who value openness and safety. This will require mechanisms for amateurs to increase their knowledge and skills, access to a community of experts, the development of a code of ethics, responsible oversight, and leadership on issues that are unique to doing biology outside of traditional professional settings.

This is a big challenge to Bioehtics, and at the same time a big headache to those who are engaged in ethical thinking because this kind of unofficial activity seems to be growing and happening outside institutions with no ethical watch or regulations except those that stem from individual conscience...And we all know where individual conscience may lead when balanced by material interest in our material civilization...