Scientists call for global push to advance synthetic biology - biofuels to benefit

With research backgrounds ranging from materials engineering to molecular biophysics, seventeen leading scientists from around the world issued a statement today announcing that, much as the discovery of DNA and creation of the transistor revolutionized science, the scientific field known as 'synthetic biology' is on the brink of revolutionizing our approach to problems ranging from eco-safe energy to outbreaks of malaria. The announcement comes days after the first procedure to create a synthetic organism was patented - and criticized (earlier post).

Synthetic biology comes down to the construction or redesign of biological systems components that do not naturally exist, by combining the engineering applications and practices of nanoscience with molecular biology.

The two-page text - called the Ilulissat Statement [*.pdf] - calls for an international effort to advance synthetic biology that would not only propel research, but do so while developing protective measures against accidents and abuses of synthetic biology. Biofuels are cited as a prime example of how synthetic biology help can solve future energy crises:

The early twenty-first century is a time of tremendous promise and tremendous peril. We face daunting problems of climate change, energy, health, and water resources. Synthetic biology offers solutions to these issues: microorganisms that convert plant matter to fuels or that synthesize new drugs or target and destroy rogue cells in the body. - Ilulissat Statement

The statement was issued following the conclusion of the first Kavli Futures Symposium with the futuristic title ‘The merging of bio and nano: towards cyborg cells’, held June 11-15 in Ilulissat, Greenland. Signed unanimously, signatories include scientists from the California Institute of Technology, Carnegie Institution of Washington, Cornell University, J. Craig Venter Institute, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, the Institute for Advanced Study, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Princeton University, Stanford University, and University of California at Berkeley (United States); Ecole Normale Superieure (France); Delft University of Technology (The Netherlands); Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, TU Dresden (Germany); Weizman Institute of Science (Israel); Systems Biology Institute, and Sony Computer Science Laboratories (Japan).

When we gathered at the Kavli Futures Symposium, researchers — among the best in their fields — in areas such as nanoscience, physics, biology, materials science and engineering met to share their expertise and brainstorm on one of the most promising yet controversial fields facing science today. That we not only achieved a consensus, but resolved to issue a unanimous statement on the critical importance of this field is significant. - Cees Dekker, professor of molecular biophysics in the Kavli Institute of NanoScience at the Delft University of Technology

The Ilulissat Statement addresses some of the uncertainties of synthetic biology:

As with any powerful technology, the promise comes with risk. We need to develop protective measures against accidents and abuses of synthetic biology. A system of best practices must be established to foster positive uses of the technology and suppress negative ones. The risks are real; but the potential benefits are truly extraordinary.

The statement's recommendations include creation of a professional organization that will engage with the broader society to maximize the benefits, minimize the risks, and oversee the ethics of synthetic life:
energy :: sustainability :: biomass :: bioenergy :: biofuels :: genomics :: molecular biology :: nanotechnology :: nanobio :: synthetic biology ::

"This is a critical moment for synthetic biology," said Paul McEuen, professor of physics, Cornell University. "The choices facing us now — the scientific investments we make and the rules we set down to govern the field — will impact society for decades to come."

The symposium was sponsored by The Kavli Foundation and co-hosted and organized by The Kavli Institute at Cornell for Nanoscience and The Kavli Institute of Nanoscience at Delft University of Technology.

This is the first of a series of unique symposia that focus on the trends, challenges and opportunities for future scientific research. By emphasizing a forward looking perspective, the Kavli Futures Symposia provide a forum for discussion of the key issues facing future developments and directions in specific fields, and thereby help to define and guide the development of the research in these fields. - David Auston, president of the Kavli Foundation.

The full list of signatories to the Ilullisast Statement on synthetic biology includes scientists who have been working on bioenergy and biofuels:

France: David Bensimon, Ecole Normale Superieure
Germany: Joe Howard, Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics
Petra Schwille, TU Dresden
Israel: Ehud Shapiro, Weizman Institute of Science
Japan: Hiroaki Kitano, Systems Biology Institute, and Sony Computer Science Laboratories
The Netherlands: Cees Dekker, Delft University of Technology
United States: Robert Austin, Princeton University; Angela Belcher, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Steven Chu; Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory; Freeman Dyson, Institute for Advanced Study; Drew Endy, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; ;Scott Fraser, California Institute of Technology; John Glass, J. Craig Venter Institute; Robert Hazen, Carnegie Institution of Washington; Jay Keasling, University of California at Berkeley; Paul McEuen, Cornell University; Julie Theriot, Stanford University.

Image: the Escherichia coli bacterium, one of the many microorganisms used in synthetic biology experiments.

References:
Ilulissat Statement: Synthesizing the Future a vision for the convergence of synthetic biology and nanotechnology [*.pdf], signed at the Kavli Futures Symposium ‘The merging of bio and nano: towards cyborg cells’, 11-15 June 2007, Ilulissat, Greenland.

Kavli Foundation: Scientists Call for Global Push to Advance Research in Synthetic Biology - June 25, 2007.