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Synthetic Biology

Metaphors, Worldviews, Ethics, and Law

  • Book
  • © 2016

Overview

Editors:
  1. Joachim Boldt

    1. Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany

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  • A variety of philosophical perspectives on synthetic biology
  • An overview of ethical and societal issues of synthetic biology
  • Interdisciplinary analyses oft he challenges of synthetic biology
  • Includes supplementary material: sn.pub/extras

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Table of contents (14 chapters)

  1. Front Matter

    Pages I-VIII
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  2. Swiss watches, genetic machines, and ethics

    • Joachim Boldt
    Pages 1-9

  3. I Concepts, Metaphors, Worldviews

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 11-11
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    2. Philosophy of Late-Modern Technology

      • Jan C. Schmidt
      Pages 13-29

    3. Synthetic Biology

      • Oliver Müller
      Pages 31-45

    4. Living Machines

      • Harald Matern, Jens Ried, Matthias Braun, Peter Dabrock
      Pages 47-60

    5. Production biology

      • Tobias Eichinger
      Pages 61-70

    6. Creativity and technology

      • Harald Matern
      Pages 71-86

    7. The moral economy of synthetic biology

      • Bernadette Bensaude Vincent
      Pages 87-100

    8. Evaluating biological artifacts

      • Johannes Achatz
      Pages 101-119

  4. II Public Good and Private Ownership. Social and Legal Ramifications

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 121-121
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    2. Legal Aspects of Synthetic Biology

      • Jürgen Robienski, Jürgen Simon, Rainer Paslack
      Pages 123-140

    3. Synbio and IP rights: looking for an adequate balance between private ownership and public interest

      • Iñigo de Miguel Beriain
      Pages 141-151

  5. III Opportunities, Risks, Governance

    1. Front Matter

      Pages 153-153
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    2. Beyond unity: Nurturing diversity in synthetic biology and its publics

      • Sacha Loeve
      Pages 155-184

    3. Synthetic Genome Technologies

      • Christoph Then
      Pages 185-194

    4. Promising applications of synthetic biology – and how to avoid their potential pitfalls

      • Bernd Giese, Henning Wigger, Christian Pade, Arnim von Gleich
      Pages 195-215

    5. Synthetic biology’s multiple dimensions of benefits and risks: implications for governance and policies

      • Harald König, Daniel Frank, Reinhard Heil, Christopher Coenen
      Pages 217-232

  6. Back Matter

    Pages 233-234
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Keywords

About this book

Assessing synthetic biology from a societal and ethical perspective is not only a matter of determining possible harms and benefits of synthetic biology applications. Synthetic biology also incorporates a specific technoscientific understanding of its research agenda and its research objects that has philosophical and ethical implications. This edited volume sets out to explore and evaluate these synthetic biology worldviews and it proposes appropriate governance measures. In addition, legal challenges are discussed.

Reviews

“This volume, edited by Boldt, attempts to explain the scope of Synthetic Biology, clarifies its distinction from technologies such as genetic engineering and nanotechnology, and discuss the ethical and legal concerns with which the field of Synthetic Biology specifically contends. … for anyone who is interested in forwarding their knowledge in the area of modern biotechnological innovation, its applications, and its implications.” (Ambika Natarajan, Nanoethics, Vol. 10, 2016)

Editors and Affiliations

  • Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg, Freiburg, Germany

    Joachim Boldt

About the editor

Dr. Joachim Boldt is Deputy Director at the Institut für Ethik und Geschichte der Medizin in Freiburg (Germany).

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