Risk in synthetic biology: views from the lab
How do synthetic biologists think about the risks in their research? This paper reports on a novel elicitation method that got surprising answers. Participants reflected not only on technical, but also on societal and psychological risks and responsibilities. Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
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EMBO Press/Wiley
2018
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| Online Access: | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/52025/ |
| _version_ | 1848798630014615552 |
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| author | McLeod, Carmen Saille, Stevienna de Nerlich, Brigitte |
| author_facet | McLeod, Carmen Saille, Stevienna de Nerlich, Brigitte |
| author_sort | McLeod, Carmen |
| building | Nottingham Research Data Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | How do synthetic biologists think about the risks in their research? This paper reports on a novel elicitation method that got surprising answers. Participants reflected not only on technical, but also on societal and psychological risks and responsibilities. Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI), a governance framework supported by many policy makers in the EU and UK, aims to help ensure that societal, as well as technical risks, are addressed at an early stage. However, defining what those risks are is a complex process. We found that when synthetic biologists were allowed to define 'risk' according to their own concerns, they more often chose to explore social and systemic risks to themselves, to science, and to the purposes and motivations of their own research. We argue that RRI as a science governance framework, and synthetic biology as a science, both need to take the wider concerns of scientists in the field as seriously as other potential impacts of emerging technology. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T20:22:49Z |
| format | Article |
| id | nottingham-52025 |
| institution | University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T20:22:49Z |
| publishDate | 2018 |
| publisher | EMBO Press/Wiley |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | nottingham-520252020-05-04T19:43:35Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/52025/ Risk in synthetic biology: views from the lab McLeod, Carmen Saille, Stevienna de Nerlich, Brigitte How do synthetic biologists think about the risks in their research? This paper reports on a novel elicitation method that got surprising answers. Participants reflected not only on technical, but also on societal and psychological risks and responsibilities. Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI), a governance framework supported by many policy makers in the EU and UK, aims to help ensure that societal, as well as technical risks, are addressed at an early stage. However, defining what those risks are is a complex process. We found that when synthetic biologists were allowed to define 'risk' according to their own concerns, they more often chose to explore social and systemic risks to themselves, to science, and to the purposes and motivations of their own research. We argue that RRI as a science governance framework, and synthetic biology as a science, both need to take the wider concerns of scientists in the field as seriously as other potential impacts of emerging technology. EMBO Press/Wiley 2018-07-01 Article PeerReviewed McLeod, Carmen, Saille, Stevienna de and Nerlich, Brigitte (2018) Risk in synthetic biology: views from the lab. EMBO reports, 19 (7). e45958/1-e45958/4. ISSN 1469-3178 http://embor.embopress.org/content/early/2018/06/01/embr.201845958 doi:10.15252/embr.201845958 doi:10.15252/embr.201845958 |
| spellingShingle | McLeod, Carmen Saille, Stevienna de Nerlich, Brigitte Risk in synthetic biology: views from the lab |
| title | Risk in synthetic biology: views from the lab |
| title_full | Risk in synthetic biology: views from the lab |
| title_fullStr | Risk in synthetic biology: views from the lab |
| title_full_unstemmed | Risk in synthetic biology: views from the lab |
| title_short | Risk in synthetic biology: views from the lab |
| title_sort | risk in synthetic biology: views from the lab |
| url | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/52025/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/52025/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/52025/ |