On the 21st of August, 2011, the St Andrews iGEM team collaborated with the Dundee iGEM Team and Professor John Urch of Dundee University to organise a synthetic biology presentation at the World Schools Debating Championships in Dundee. The World Schools Debating Championships (WSDC) is a celebrated debating competition between high school students of various cultures and academic backgrounds, which has been taking place annually since 1988. Previous participants of the competition include Tony Blair and Nelson Mandela.

Our preliminary idea was to conduct a presentation which would inform students about synthetic biology and would inspire a healthy discussion concerning the various ethical issues and opinions associated with the subject. The teams had a few meetings prior to the event where the programme of the presentation and the division of responsibilities were discussed. It was decided that the Dundee iGEM team would talk about the positive aspects of synthetic biology, while the St Andrews iGEM team would discuss the negative aspects of synthetic biology. After the presentation, both iGEM teams and their advisors would form a panel to address questions raised by audience members, in order to encourage independent thought and internal discussion amongst the audience.

Our Arguments

The Dundee iGEM team began the presentation by introducing the concept of synthetic biology and discussing their iGEM project. They explained the basic principles of iGEM, the concept of a biobrick, and how it affects the activities of the overall cell. They began their discussion of synthetic biology benefits by introducing the role particular biobrick sequences could play in the treatment of disease. After being inserted into cells, designed biobrick DNA sequences can induce that cell to produce a substance that can be used to aid in the treatment of that disease. Dundee mentioned examples of ongoing scientific projects such as the effect of using various biobricks to treat malaria and diabetes. But the use of biobrick sequences extend further than simply medical applications. Synthetic biology can also help to produce greener fuels, such as bio-alcohol or photosynthetic algae, which are becoming increasingly popular due to the changes in the world’s climate and increasing dependence on fossil fuels. Dundee introduced the idea about how synthetic biology could be used in controlling and reducing the spread of oil spills, by creating bacteria that thrive on oil as food and utilizing them in the cleanup effort. Novel ideas like this open the door for synthetic biology to play an important role in ecological protection. Other applications of synthetic biology include material production, such as cellular production of fertilizers and pesticides that could help to boost agricultural growth, or chemicals that require non-cost-effective human effort to synthesize. It seemed as though synthetic biology could solve some of the most prominent problems of our time.

Following the Dundee iGEM presentation was the St Andrews iGEM Team, who discussed the negative aspects of synthetic biology. St Andrews chose to highlight three main practical dangers of synthetic biology, including how best to prevent these disasters from occurring in the future.

St Andrews introduced the concept of bioterrorism within a synthetic biology context. Because laboratory protocols can be accessed by anyone within the general public, there are concerns that they could be used as “blueprints” to synthesize an infectious bacteria or virus for malevolent purposes. Another practical danger is the prospect of an organism escaping the lab and being released into the surrounding environment. The danger here is two-fold, with the bacteria either colonizing an individual or individuals, potentially causing serious bodily harm and even death, or the bacteria colonizing the environment, causing damage to the environmental niche, or out-competing other natural flora into extinction. The last practical danger is the possibility of scientists testing synthetic bacteria in an open environment. The fear here is that the bacteria may become endemic to the environment, colonizing rapidly and making eradication of the bacteria all but impossible. After colonization, similar problems to the “escape the lab” scenario occur, including environmental damage or infection of animals or humans.

Student Response

Presentations

Below are links to both the St Andrews and Dundee University presentations:

Presenation - University of Dundee (Benefits of Synthetic Biology) THIS NEEDS EDITING.

Presenation - University of St Andrews (Deficits of Synthetic Biology) THIS NEEDS EDITING.

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