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Synthetic Biology Interdisciplinary Challenge 9
How do we maximally capitalize on the promise of synthetic biology?
Challenge Summary
The burgeoning field of synthetic biology offers the dual promise of solving some of the most profound challenges facing society as well as providing a fundamentally deeper understanding of the functioning of living systems. Synthetic biology provides us a new view of biology, a view that offers an unprecedented level of knowledge about how parts of biological systems function in isolation and within natural or reconfigured living organisms. At present however, our ability to tackle the grandest challenges facing the field remain relatively primitive. Issues that need to be addressed to fully exploit what synthetic biology has to offer include technological, educational, institutional, and communication barriers to progress. To fully exploit the opportunities that lie ahead in synthetic biology, it is essential that we transform the currently existing cultures in scientific, educational, governmental, and communication institutions by embracing innovative new strategies for promoting this young field.
In terms of education, we need to train young scientists to view biology with fresh eyes. Starting at a young age (K-12), students need to understand that complex biological systems are not wholly reliant on their endogenous parts; rather, they can be evolved or engineered. Students need to know that biological systems can be understood through principles, not through memorization. We need to teach students that biological systems often have critical applications. Finally, our students need to appreciate that interdisciplinary knowledge lies at the heart of innovation.
It is also imperative that we break down ‘silos’ in our academic institutions. Synthetic biology demands that biologists, chemists, physicists, and mathematicians work together with engineers. The deep philosophical divide between what might be called “pure science” and “engineering” must be bridged. In synthetic biology, understanding, manipulation, and application are intimately linked, and we need to provide an academic culture along with an appropriate infrastructure that allows academics to simultaneously explore multiple aspects of this field.
Another challenge is the gap that exists between academics and industry. This gap is most severe when one considers partnerships between basic sciences and industry, because the science fields lack the interface that engineering-based fields have traditionally had with industry. Mechanisms need to be put in place to enable academics, together with industry partners, to move from the proof of principle experiment in a petri plate (or the like) to the industrial scale.
Concurrent with the above, a shift must occur within the funding agency culture. Long-term strategic plans could be envisioned that both stimulate and incentivize cooperation among diverse disciplines and agencies to solve common foundational problems. Rigorous mechanisms for effectively evaluating new science coming from a new field need to be imagined.
Critically, we need a fundamental change in communication both within and outside the scientific community. Within the greater scientific community, synthetic biologists must move research beyond the border of a particular discipline. Going forward, scientists must be able to coherently explain the intellectual merit and relevant application of the work along with the technology and molecular mechanisms underpinning it to a broad scientific audience. Likewise, it is the job of the scientist to help non-scientists become good consumers of science. Outreach is especially critical in the synthetic biology field because the work can blur the distinction between animate and inanimate objects and therefore the research can potentially have an extreme ethical, religious, and social impact. Finally, our government needs to wrestle with balancing and promoting scientific innovation in synthetic biology with its serious safety and ethical considerations.
Key Questions
- How can synthetic biology be taught in schools in order to engage students in biology?
- How can we teach synthetic biology in a way that integrates it with other sciences and engineering?
- How can academic institutions be restructured to promote the development of unique interdisciplinary sciences like synthetic biology?
- How can academic/industry partnerships be enhanced to catalyze synthetic biology applications?
- How can we maximize the efforts of government agencies to responsibly lay the foundation for synthetic biology?
- How can we prepare scientists to effectively engage with the diverse collections of people with interest in synthetic biology?
Reading
ARISE: Advancing Research in Science and Engineering. American Academy of Arts and Sciences. 2008: http://www.amacad.org/arisefolder/default.aspx. Accessed online July 28, 2009.
BIO 2010 Transforming Undergraduate Education for Further research Biologists. NAS National Research Council. 2003:
http://books.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=10497#toc. Accessed online July 28, 2009.
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