Keyword: synthetic biology

Synthetic Biology: Artificial Life Threatens Nature and Society

Picture: Get ready for extreme genetic engineering in your ice cream cautions environmental NGO, Friends of the Earth U.S. Glenn Ashton - Synthetic food has long been the subject of speculative fiction, from Charlie Chaplin’s “The Great Dictator” where poor quality artificial food spawned dissent, to Kurt Vonnegut’s “Breakfast of Champions” where food was manufactured from coal and petroleum because fossil fuels had trashed global ecosystems. Today fiction manifests as reality. If genetic modification (GM) of our food were not enough, biologists continue to push the boundaries of their...