Could you still get enough freedom of choice to discover anything
that way?
John
Yea, that stung. Harsh, George. Harsh.
Nothing new from George, there. He pretty much took that position during the discussions with the Presidential Commission last year.
What do you expect from the antiquated academics?
Ryan
Ah, then I owe you an apology. Sorry, the material I had seen suggested a double standard against amateurs.
Personally I'm open to the idea of a carefully done licensing system, as long as it's accessible to all and permits certain safe experiments for beginners without a license. Sadly I'm not sure that's possible without damage due to implementation concerns..
Ireland's law superficially looks like the above, but it's being crippled by the agency responsible for enforcing it so that it's very forbidding to science. They "interpret" the unambiguous text so that all the reasonable exemptions are impossible to use, abuse the system for extending the application response deadline, and won't consider the 50% discount that's part of the text for low-capital applicants.
Really sad for us in Ireland, it makes DIY synbio very challenging, and it's cost me months of wasted time and 250 euro. And we're among the less science-hating countries in Europe.. If my experience of a SynBio license hadn't been such an ordeal, I'd agree with you more. Implementation of a great law by a disinterested agency can lead to crippling pressure on DIYs, startups and nonprofits.
Really sad for us in Ireland, it makes DIY synbio very challenging, and it's cost me months of wasted time and 250 euro. And we're among the less science-hating countries in Europe.. If my experience of a SynBio license hadn't been such an ordeal, I'd agree with you more. Implementation of a great law by a disinterested agency can lead to crippling pressure on DIYs, startups and nonprofits.
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In Ireland, recombinant technology is unregulated but transgenics is. So hack DNA all you like but if you want to out it into a cell, you need a license.
There is a specific exemption for cases where the DNA comes from the species originally. The reasoning is that you're not adding any new new DNA just new context. However, I specifically designed my plasmid to fit that exemption, only to be told I'd need a license.
Great points. I'll lobby internationally for very low costs and
complexity for synbio licenses especially DIYbio (same standards and
surveillance as everyone else). DIYbio could save us some day (and
someone untrained/unlicensed could hurt us).
Now, however, imagine someone using this technology for evil by applying it to genetic circuit that has been designed to harm humans. It is possible that such a venture could succeed, but note that harmful intent is a characteristic of the second situation.
Individuals can use all manner of technologies to kill other people from cars to chemicals to electricity. However, on a given day most people do not use these technologies for intentional harm. Creating transparent systems to allow synthetic biology, while making it easier to observe and eliminate harmful may make it possible that the field can benefit from the contributions of DIYbiologists while minimizing risks generated by both that community and individuals in ordinary labs (though the risk there seems to be small using historical measures--much, much lower than inadvertent driver error.).
On the other hand, the rise of antibiotic resistant bacteria is a real problem, basically because we are selecting bacteria that can outwit our best defenses and potentially kill us. The selection factor here isn't typically scientists inadvertently creating grey goo, but rather the more pedestrian problems of overprescribed antibiotics and individuals who fail to take them in the prescribed fashion.
Sent from my iPhone
At the European coding workshop we discussed peer-to-peer validation and inspections. I.e. the Manchester DIYbioers might travel to London Hackerspace or BiologiGaragen to check out their space, run a safety checklist, and offer specifically tailored advice on areas that could be improved. If each major DIYbio lab, whether individual or community, were able to give their own individual "Stamp of approval" according to community approved guidelines, perhaps coupled with individual additions, it would have two effects:
1) It would help generate a web-of-trust, because any given diybioer could boast safety validation from X established members, and there would be a reciprocal social pressure not to tarnish those validations by disrespecting the safety and ethics they represent;
2) It would help draw the community together in realspace by offering a social frame that justifies and endorses visits.
If you then assert that two validations equals "license" and push the idea to cagey suppliers, you have an incentive for a system that's not even negative to begin with.
The proactive way to end that email would be a general offer;
If anyone does want me to give their lab a gym badge, I'd be happy to help provided I could afford to reach them. Also, not for the next three months until my role as a father is realised and well established.
Towards having a set of criteria, I'll draw up a checklist that'll cover the draft code, general biosafety and general Bioethics. It won't cover legalities of biohacking because I'm not a "Competent Authority" in the EU jargon, but I'll happily offer an audit within my understanding of the EU directive and my experience of procuring a license.
I wonder what palms get greased to release crappy products like the "Eat this ad" campaign, I was hearing about on NPR Marketplace 2 months ago. Apparently they've utilized synbio to create thermophilic bacterium that paint heat reactive ads onto YOUR FOOD. So that a prepressed hamburger lights up while you grill it, with a lil Mr. Pickle waving. Or even the use of bacteriophage bioplastics that are sprayed onto deli meats to keep them from being exposed to the air.
Seems like the commercial realm could use a whole lot more policing to me.
Ryan
No sh*t. When I googled it, at least 4 or 5 other places were quoting it online, but I must have headed into work before they announced that. Thanks for the clarification.
Ryan