Synthetic biology gets ethical

UK centre hopes to blend science, policy and outreach in burgeoning field.

A synthetic-biology centre opening today at Imperial College London is hoping to pre-empt public concerns about the field by integrating social scientists into its research team.

The Centre for Synthetic Biology and Innovation is the first publicly-funded UK centre dedicated to synthetic biology – the science of designing and building biological components that can perform useful functions, such as producing drugs or biofuels. The Engineering and Physical Science Research Council is providing £8 million (US$11 million) in funding for the centre over the next 5 years.

One of the centre's senior staff is sociologist Nikolas Rose

"The usual position of the social scientists it to be right downstream, this is a rare opportunity to work right at the beginning,"

Rose's team will train graduate students and staff to consider the social and ethical implications of their research

Synthetic biology gets ethical

A positive step