Ethical Issues Raised by SynBio-based Biofuels

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Из курса от партнера Johns Hopkins University

Engineering Life: Synbio, Bioethics & Public Policy

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Johns Hopkins University

Engineering Life: Synbio, Bioethics & Public Policy

20 оценки

Synbio is a diverse field with diverse applications, and the different contexts (e.g., gain-of-function research, biofuels) raise different ethical and governance challenges. The objective of this course is to increase learners’ awareness and understanding of ethical and policy/governance issues that arise in the design, conduct and application of synthetic biology. The course will begin with a short history of recombinant DNA technology and how governance of that science developed and evolved, and progress through a series of areas of application of synbio. Content will be presented in many forms, including not only reading and lectures, but also recorded and live interviews and discussions with scientists, ethicists and policy makers. Learners will have the opportunity to think, write and talk about the issues and challenges in their own work and in real-life case examples. A final project will engage students in the development of governance models for synbio.

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Biofuels

This week, we’ll learn about biofuels, the complex task of balancing the many ethical issues they raise, and the role of synthetic biology in biofuels development. The work of the week includes lecture videos, one outside video, readings, and an interview with Deborah Scott about biofuels governance. The week will conclude with a quiz.

Week 3 Introduction1:21

Applications5:56

Ethical Issues Raised by SynBio-based Biofuels8:40

Interview: Deborah Scott, PhD, JD (Part 1)24:08

Interview: Deborah Scott, PhD, JD (Part 2)14:53

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Debra JH Mathews, PhD, MA
Assistant Director for Science Programs
Berman Institute of Bioethics

[MUSIC]

In this video we're going to talk about ethical

issues raised by Synbio based biofuels and biofuels more generally.

The first thing I have listed here, expertise,

is not an ethical issue in itself.

But as with all of these very diverse areas of synthetic biology,

and diverse applications of synthetic biology.

It's always important to think about whether or

not the right people or in the room when decisions are being made.

So for example going back to one of the interview [COUGH]

videos with Lee Ray Walters in week one.

Where there was a lot of focus on the rack around issues of evolution, but

there were no evolutionary biologists on the rack,

which might have been helpful expertise to have.

We are in the case of biofuels for example,

are there companies making decisions about biofuel production.

Are they in conversation with people who are working in sustainable agriculture or

ecology or biosafety for example.

What are the areas of expertise that are important and

helpful in getting a really sort of full and

rich picture of the potential ethical issues associated with a technology.

The first area of ethical issues relates to effects on food production and

I've split these up but there are a lot of overlaps, as you will see.

So again, back to the food versus fuel debate.

You're diverting corn, sugar cane, land,

production capacity to fuel rather than food.

[COUGH] And who are the winners, and

who are the losers in that decision.

Effects on food costs.

If you're diverting potential food sources to fuel,

you're decreasing food available and therefore, potentially increasing cost.

And again, who does that burden affect most?

Also, potential risks to food security in some regions.

Again, if you're diverting food to fuel production.

And again, as I alluded to on the introduction slide,

many of these issues are not specific to synthetic biology but

based biofuels but they're nonetheless very important.

When a new technology is involved, the issues that we tend to discuss

are those that are focused on the new technology itself.

And I think that often leads to a failure to focus

attention on the issues raised by the last generation

of the technology or in that field of study generally.

Second big issue is land use.

Again, lots of overlapping issues with food, and the food versus fuel debate.

So, arable land used for fuel rather than food crops.

Effects on soil quality.

And this includes, if you're then using as a second generation biofuel cellulosic

biomass, leftover waste from food production is that

going to have an effect on soil quality and erosion.

Deforestation, the distribution of land use and

fuel use which I brought up in the case study, right?

If the land use is happening in the global south,

but the fuel use is happening in the global north.

How do we think about the distribution of risks and

benefits from that fuel production?

Third big category, environmental risks and benefits.

So what are the byproducts of biofuels production and use.

What are the effects on biodiversity?

You'll hear quite a bit about that from Deborah Scott in the interview this week.

Potential benefit if it is you're decreasing fertilizer use.

So for example, if you were to shift from corn based ethanol biofuels

production to a cellulosic biomass fuel when wherein you're using.

For example, wild grasses for your biomass.

You could reduce fertilizer use

which could have a number of benefits associated with it.

If you're talking about third generation biofuels and

particular production of an algae based biofuel in an open pond.

You might also be concerned about safety issues related to

the escape of

that genetically modified algae either through air,

or animal vectors right.

It's an open pond it might be vulnerable to visits from other animals.

And weather events again,

you're talking about a production platform that is an outside environment.

And a storm could disturb that pond.

If again you're talking about a genetically modified organism

that is in an outside environment.

You might be concerned about persistence of that organism in the environment.

Competition between that organism and

related native organisms in the environment.

So, similar concerns to what we have about invasive species out competing

native populations or gene flow between those [INAUDIBLE].

So, horizontal gene transfer between the organism,

the modified organism and other microorganisms in the environment.

And then some additional issues include some that I have

alluded to in earlier videos as well.

So impacts on agricultural workers, right.

Who are the people that are producing the biomass.

Economic and environmental justice, in particular

the Northern hemisphere, Southern hemisphere concerns.

Biosafety which is an issue very familiar from weeks one and two.

And in particular biofuels.

Bio fuels is a little bit different than the other areas,

we'll talk about this week.

Because of the importance of the commercial sector,

in Synbio based bio fuels production.

So that commercial sector involvement raises questions

around ownership and control of intellectual property.

Right, when you're talking about intellectual property and protecting IP,

they're concerns about transparency.

The availability of information for

the populations that might be affected for purposes of risk benefit analysis.

And the ownership or control of any environmental resources that are involved

in the production of the biofuel.

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