Reimagining responsibility in synthetic biology

Abstract

With the promise to address societal challenges by engineering life, synthetic biology claims the authority to declare what technological futures are possible, desirable, and good. This represents a reimagination and reordering of responsibilities of governance that demands public assessment and deliberation. Yet dominant approaches to assessing social and ethical issues in the biosciences generally neglect the role of scientific authority in configuring responsibilities of governance. This essay offers a diagnosis of this failure and suggestions to address it.