Putting learnings into practice
Strategic Action Plans
Only two microbes are practically available to nonprofit researchers as platforms for genetic modification, a restriction that has profoundly delayed the progress of synthetic biology. A tiny fraction of interesting microbes has genetic toolkits—and though it is possible to build toolkits, current incentive structures in research and biotechnology seem to preclude the involvement of academic scientists or the disclosure of methods or strains by industrial scientists.
A growing community of software developers and designers is becoming increasingly inspired by and eager to get involved in biology. Though participating in the “next digital revolution” is attractive, lateral entrants to the field face a steep learning curve before they can effectively discuss many core concepts of biological engineering with professional synthetic biologists.
Surveying public opinion on GMOs and genetic modification reveals responses like: I don’t know. No clue. Complicated. Health. Improvement. Doubt. Wrong. Food. Scary. A Google image search on the term “synthetic biology” results in textbook charts, dissected bacterium, and gears—society doesn’t seem to be part of the picture.
