Synthetic biology: ethics, exceptionalism and expectations

Abstract

Synthetic biology gives rise to ethical implications. These are already well recognised, with an ever-increasing academic and lay literature and growing attention from policy-makers. What is less clear is whether analysis of ethics in synthetic biology should be ‘exceptional’. That is, is there anything about synthetic biology that justifies a distinctive ‘ethics of’ approach? Likewise, what may or may not be fruitful directions for useful bioethical inquiry in synthetic biology remains under-explored. This paper first synthesises ethical issues arising in synthetic biology. A claim is then advanced that while a purely exceptionalist approach to ethics and synthetic biology is unwarranted, the field nevertheless requires engagement with ethics. Initial suggestions are put forward as to how this might be achieved. The paper then determines several hitherto under-explored lines of enquiry which serve to both further useful discussions of synthetic biology and contribute to the wider project of ethical engagement in emerging technologies.