Added: 26.11.2009 15:58
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DIY viruses

Do-it-yourself boichamists build viruses and other living organisms at home

Biotechnology is one of the most interesting research topics at the moment. One especially interesting branch in this field is synthetic biology. Synthetic biology is a new area of biological research that combines science and engineering in order to design and build (in other words, "synthesize") novel biological functions and systems. It seeks to make working with cells and genes more like building circuits by creating standardized biological parts.

The knowledge on how to “build” living organisms from scratch is growing. At the same time biotechnology equipment become more affordable. The technology for home labs is already available, and the boom for synthetic biology is expected in mid 2010’s. As both the information and the capabilities to make new simple life forms are increasing, new opportunities open for non-professionals to do things that earlier were possible for just researchers in laboratories.

The development in synthetic biology could open the door for a great number of bio hobbyists who could design and build different kind of bio-organisms in their home, much like in the beginning of the IT era, when pioneers of the field built personal computers and designed software in their garages.

Hobbyists could do a lot of good, for instance create open source processes where organisms that would help to fight some common diseases, such as malaria, could be developed. However, intentions of all hobbyists might not necessarily be this benign or the capabilities to control a possibly designed harmful creation at a home laboratory might not be very good. Disturbed or uninformed individuals might design viruses which might have devastating effects on mankind if released in nature.

Opportunity: New solutions to environment and health problems

Threat: Effects of engineered organisms such as viruses to people and nature

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