Synthetic Biology is a moving target.  As a sub-field of Biological Engineering and Genetic Engineering, synthetic biology has a different meaning depending on the speaker’s interests for the field.  However, a common thread through these varying views is the goal of creating new biological systems through the manipulation of DNA and of building new tools to do so efficiently, in hopes of producing solutions to proposed medical and energy problems.

The fundamental assertion of the Human Practices lab of the Synthetic Biology Engineering Research Center (SynBERC) is that scientific research is a human practice and therefore should be investigated anthropologically.  As a mode of inquiry associated with Cultural Anthropology, human practices investigates the cultural, political, and economic ramifications of scientific research done within synthetic biology.  Human practices pays close attention to language found in proposals and presentations of the multiple actors of synthetic biology projects and to that found in popular media, to practices at the lab bench and lab meetings, and to the cultural, political, and economic context of decisions made in these milieus.  Closely aligned to the goals of the Anthropology of the Contemporary, it attempts to use and create “contemporary equipment for work on collaborative projects and problems in the 21st century.”

As an on-line forum designed to bring together specialists and non-specialists, Ars Synthetica has developed multiple participatory channels for exploring questions about ethics, security, and how cutting-edge research in the biosciences is organized, governed, funded, and expanded.  How will synthetic biology shape and be shaped by medicine, energy, and environmental needs?  Whose business is ethics?  What are the limits to what we can design?  These are some of the questions that Ars Synthetica poses—go to the Collections page to investigate such questions and raise new ones, and go to the Contribute page to upload new resources you believe will add to the conversation. 

Our goal is to actively resist the polemics that often characterize public discourse about new science and technology. We seek the fertile grounds for discourse between the hype of revolution on the one side and fears of "playing God" on the other.  The outcome does not provide absolute or final answers, but it enables a diverse range of participant responses, perspectives, and concerns.  We want to educate and critically engage various publics about the challenges and opportunities of bringing new biological entities, practices, and relations into the world.

To learn more about the interconnectedness of concepts and questions between synthetic biology and anthropology, take some time to delve into the Primer on Synthetic Biology and Related Human Practices.