Ethics- Week 7

Ethics Dr. Jane Gregory provided us with a fascinating insight into the ethical dimension of synthetic biology as an emerging new science. Dr Gregory explained concepts such as how there are actually many 'general publics' and not simply one 'general public' as team members from science and engineering backgrounds we had been led to believe.

Dr Gregory started off the debate by asking us all to reveal something about ourselves that we had never previously disclosed. Much to our shock and surprise Ali confessed to being a keen fitness enthusiast. A real revelation. And we also have a champion kick-boxer in our midst!

Many aspects of the synthetic biology were discussed and a common route to communicate those messages to the general public was developed. The summit was also an opportunity to discuss further ideas with Veronica, our team mate who has been tirelessly criss-crossing around Europe from Rome to Brussels to London in an effort to canvass European-wide opinions of synthetic biology from a range of general publics.

Management Dr Gregory also provided valuable insight into our team's group dynamic and immediately identified that perhaps we were too reliant on our iGEM Instructors and could be more independent if we appointed a student team leader. We hope to implement some if not all of Dr Gregory's suggestions over the coming weeks, liaising closely with Veronika.