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Early Engagement with Synthetic Biology in the Netherlands—Initiatives by the Rathenau Instituut

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Ambivalences of Creating Life

Part of the book series: Ethics of Science and Technology Assessment ((ETHICSSCI,volume 45))

Abstract

Synthetic biology is developing at rapid speed. On the one hand the field is expected to contribute to greening the economy, sustainable energy and public health, for example. On the other hand, synthetic biology brings about risks and also raises tough ethical and societal issues. In order to facilitate timely dialogue on how synthetic biology should develop and what conditions should be taken into account, several organizations involved in technology assessment started working on synthetic biology early on in its development. The Rathenau Instituut, based in the Netherlands, is one of these organizations. The following chapter will describe and reflect on initiatives of the institute to facilitate early engagement with synthetic biology. An analytical framework is used to better understand and distinguish these activities. Public engagement activities will be divided into three categories which relate to different spheres of the science and technology governance landscape: the political sphere, the science and technology sphere and the societal sphere. The analysis also distinguishes between informing and engaging activities. The chapter then demonstrates how interaction between the different spheres is facilitated by the Rathenau Instituut.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    One of the coordinators of the Rathenau Instituut.

  2. 2.

    See for example the recent petition “Synthetic is not natural”, launched by a number of NGOs, including the ETC Group and Friends of the Earth, urging the company Ecover to ‘keep extreme genetic engineering out of “natural” products’ (ETC Group et al. 2014). This firm announced plans to shift from palm kernel oil to an algal oil as a basic ingredient for their soap products. To this end, the algae would be modified by means of synthetic biology. In contrast to the aforementioned NGOs, for Ecover the oil represents a ‘natural’ and sustainable alternative for the unsustainable palm kernel oil (Stemerding and Jochemsen 2014).

  3. 3.

    For more information and examples see: www.rathenau.nl/SynBio. Accessed 14 Dec 2014.

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Acknowledgments

I would like to thank Dirk Stemerding, Rinie van Est, Marieke Ruitenburg, Pol Maclaine Pont and the organizers and participants of the TA summer school ‘Analyzing the Societal Dimensions of Synthetic Biology’ for informing and engaging with me on the content and structure of this chapter.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Rathenau Instituut, PO Box 95366, 2509 CJ, The Hague, The Netherlands

    Virgil Rerimassie

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  1. Virgil Rerimassie
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Correspondence to Virgil Rerimassie .

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  1. EA European Academy of Technology and Innovation Assessment GmbH, Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler, Germany

    Kristin Hagen

  2. EA European Academy of Technology and Innovation Assessment GmbH, Bad Neuenahr-Ahrweiler, Germany

    Margret Engelhard

  3. Center for Literary and Cultural Research Berlin, Berlin, Germany

    Georg Toepfer

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Rerimassie, V. (2016). Early Engagement with Synthetic Biology in the Netherlands—Initiatives by the Rathenau Instituut. In: Hagen, K., Engelhard, M., Toepfer, G. (eds) Ambivalences of Creating Life. Ethics of Science and Technology Assessment, vol 45. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-21088-9_10

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-21088-9_10

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