Category: Regulation & Oversight
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Workshop on containment and release of engineered micro-organisms; Kings College London
On 29th April 2013 King’s College London Centre for Synthetic Biology and Innovation held a workshop on “Synthetic Biology: containment and release of engineered micro-organisms” at King’s College London. The workshop brought together key stakeholders (synthetic biologists, microbiologists, regulators, NGOs, research funders and social scientists) to discuss the prospects for micro-organisms produced by synthetic biology that […]
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Supreme Court Strikes Down Gene Patents in Breast Cancer Gene Case
By Pete Shanks and Marcy Darnovsky Originally published on Biopolitical Times The Supreme Court’s June 13, 2013 unanimous ruling against Myriad Genetics is a triumph for common sense and the common good, and for scientific research and legal fundamentals as well. The decision means that all of the existing patents on human genes – some […]
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Reactions to the Supreme Court Ruling on Patenting Human Genes
by Pete Shanks Originally published on Biopolitical Times The unanimous Supreme Court decision [pdf] (June 13, 2013) that human genes may not be patented was greeted with unbridled enthusiasm by the large coalition of plaintiffs and supporters. Early reactions concurred that the decision is indeed a momentous one. The Center for Genetics and Society response […]
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Campaign to Stop Release of Synthetic Seeds Launches Online Petition & Crowd Funding
ETC Group has launched a crowd funding page at Indiegogo to support the “Kickstopper” campaign aimed at stopping the first mass release of synthetic organisms into the environment. Also just launched is a petition to get Kickstarter to withdraw their support for the synthetic glowing plant PR campaign that leverages lax regulation in the United […]
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EU’s Scientific Committees to Look at Synthetic Biology
Download: synthetic_biology_mandate_en.pdf Reposted from Regulatory Update | 17 May 2013 By Ansis Helmanis, RegLink The European Commission’s three Scientific Committees have been requested to provide a joint scientific opinion on the relationship of Synthetic Biology (SB) to genetic modification of organisms, its implications for human and animal health and the environment, and the major gaps in knowledge necessary […]
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Principles for the Oversight of Synthetic Biology
Download the complete pdf The undersigned, a broad coalition of civil society groups, social movements, local and indigenous communities, public interest, environmental, scientific, human rights, religious and labor organizations concerned about various aspects of synthetic biology’s human health, environmental , social , economic, ethical and other impacts, offer the following declaration, “The Principles for the […]
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ETC & FOE “Kickstopper” Campaign Takes Aim at SynBio Kickstarter Effort to Distribute Synthetically Engineered Seeds
Kickstopper! – Putting a Stop to Synthetic Biology Pollution ETC to launch counter-Kickstarter campaign to prevent release of synthetic organisms At the end of April 2013, ETC Group learned that three biohackers from the ultra-libertarian Singularity University in California had mounted a project on the popular crowdfunding site Kickstarter. It was a plan to carry out the […]
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Mass Release of Synthetically Engineered Plant Seeds via Kickstarter Campaign Draws Protest
An Israeli company seeks to use a loophole in US regulations on genetically engineered plants to conduct a mass release of a genetically modified organism (a glow in the dark Arabidopsis plant) with no regulatory review. Current US regulations, which would apply if the plant were modified using non-synthetic techniques, don’t cover the new gene […]
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Video: The Bay Area Bio Lab & Synthetic Biology, False Solutions
A Risky Development: The University of California, Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, and the US Department of Energy have unveiled plans to build a high profile biotech laboratory in the East Bay. The lab and associated commercial activity will focus on developing biofuels and other products using synthetic biology: an extreme form of genetic engineering that […]