stockvit/Shutterstock.com
Synthetic biology is a new discipline combining findings from molecular biology, biochemistry and engineering sciences with procedures from bio-, nano- and information technology. In this field, biological systems are analysed from an engineering perspective and reduced to their minimal functional units. In this way, construction models are designed for modified or completely newly developed biological systems, which do not occur in nature. It is subject to debate how synthetic biology differs from conventional biotechnology and what its potential is, how its approaches and results are presented to and perceived by the public and what specific risks might be associated with them. With regard to the “creation of artificial life” through synthetic biology, philosophical questions arise about the concept of life, but also concerning human self-understanding.
