“Study the past, if you would divine the future” – Confucius

Scientific study is generally perceived as the development of new ideas and novel data, but underlying this is the fact that scientific advancement is made by building formerly known information on top of new innovation. Indeed, without the discovery of the cell, synthetic biology would never exist.

In the same way that scientific advancements can be made by looking at prior invention, the University of Lethbridge iGEM Team believes that synthetic biology ethical advancements can also be made by looking at ethical concerns of the past. Due to the fact that synthetic biology is such a new science, we are in the position to dictate ethical rules that should be implemented as new discoveries are made.

U of L iGEM Team has chosen to look at significant scientific discoveries of the past and analyze them from ethical, environmental, economic, legal and social standpoints. Learning how ethics has been dealt with (or should have been dealt with!) in the past can significantly shape the direction of ethical development in the field of synthetic biology.

Through our analysis of cloning, antibiotics, internet and nuclear power, the University of Lethbridge iGEM Team will “divine the future” of ethics and its relationship with the newly developing field of synthetic biology.

Internet

The Internet initially began in the 1960s to allow for a globally interconnected set of computers that could provide quick and easy access to various data and programs for users (1). By the 1980s, progress in the development of the Internet included networks that revolutionized the world of computers and communication by bringing about the invention of the World Wide Web by European scientists (1). In 2010, the Web is such a major part of everyday life that it has become somewhat of a necessity for successful social interaction. Who would have thought that a scientific innovation spearheaded by numerous MIT researchers would evolve into such a sophisticated system that would allow almost anyone to be able to view every type of multimedia on their computer?

    Like many scientific discoveries, the Internet and the World Wide Web has led to many ethical dilemmas.  Rather unforeseeable at first, was the profound impact the Internet and the World Wide Web would have on the social aspect of people’s lives.  The advent of social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter and even the prevalence of e-mail accounts changed how people communicate and interact and therefore had a major impact on their relations (2).  The effect of time spent on the Internet and World Wide Web has only recently been extensively studied and has been shown to not only reduce the frequency of social activities but also productivity at work (2).  Although providing a brand-new market for advertisers, these scientific advancements have also altered the manner in which the News is reported by decreasing the popularity of historical forms of media such as newspapers, radio and television (2).  The accessibility to a wide variety of information on the Internet and World Wide Web has led to a decline in privacy and has increased the ability of individuals to misrepresent themselves, their goods or products and sometimes even sources of knowledge such as Wikipedia (2).  
    In the beginning, the scientists that developed this remarkable method of communication probably did not even consider that people would openly and enthusiastically reveal such a great deal of their private information on the Internet or World Wide Web.  Their primary focus was to discover and optimize another communication system and it seems there was an unintentional lack of regard to the direction and liberties the public would take with this new innovation.  
    In the world of synthetic biology, OpenWetWare, an online platform, was designed and developed for the sharing of scientific information between researchers and labs.  If groups are not careful with the important content they share on World Wide Web sites, there is a significant chance that their rights to project ideas, protocols and even results may not exist.  Open access to information on the Internet or World Wide Web allows individuals or companies to use this knowledge for inappropriate purposes or to profit when they are not entitled.  This is particularly important to our iGEM team’s project, which focuses on cleaning up the tailings pond water that is a result of oil sands extraction.  As this project is of significance to both the environment and economy of Alberta, many interested individuals or groups could use the information available online to their advantage.  
    We believe the main lesson that can be taken from the development of the Internet and World Wide Web has to be the degree to which information should be shared for the benefit of all of its users.  Unfinished or unsubstantiated experimental data should not be shared with the masses and scientific excellence and achievement should only be credited where it is rightfully due.  

References: (1) Leiner B.M., Cerf V.G., Clark D.D., Kahn R.E., Kleinrock L., Lynch D.C., Postel J., Roberts L.G., Wolff S. 2010. A Brief History of the Internet. Internet Society. http://www.isoc.org/internet/history/brief.shtml

(2) Brignall T.W., Valey T.V. 2005. The Impact of Internet Communications on Social Interaction. Sociological Spectrum. 25: 335 - 348.