Synthetic Biology

Synthetic biology is an extreme form of genetic engineering that involves re-engineering and designing genes to create new synthetic organisms that do not exist in nature. Synthetic biology can be used to engineer organisms such as yeasts and bacteria to produce complex molecules and synthetic biologists see uses for synbio in a range of industries. These include biofuels, food, medicine, military applications and ‘improving’ humans. Friends of the Earth is calling for a moratorium on the release and commercial use of synthetic organisms, cells, or genomes until the risks associated with the use of this technology are properly assessed and its safety established.