A new study published in the online journal PLOS Biology examines the multiple ways synthetic biology may help save the world, as it were, and bolster the efforts of scientists trying to Earth's natural environments and the animals who live in them.
Then, based on the findings in the new paper, the benefits --- and drawbacks ---of synthetic biology will be debated later this month at a convention in the United Kingdom dedicated to the relatively new field of study.
The Synthetic Biology and Conservation Conference takes place at Clare College in England, April 9-11, and will explore the possibilities of synthetic biology, a discipline that uses chemically-synthesized DNA to create organisms for specific purposes.
The field includes efforts to extinct species, like the woolly mammoth and the dodo bird, via recovering ancient DNA from frozen or preserved samples.
Researchers have also used synthetic biology to develop organisms that may down the line be able to produce oil from carbon dioxide. And there's been further research into how to use the field to create genetically-modified crops that are heartier, such as being more drought resistant.
The new research, which will be rolled out at the Synthetic Biology Conference in England, considers all the different sides of synthetic biology --- including why bringing back some specific animal species might not be a terrific idea and how developing creating certain plants and introducing them in natural habitats could end up destroying entire ecosystems.
The research also explores the reasons those involved in the conservation movement haven't embraced synthetic biology more.
"At present, the synthetic biology and conservation communities are largely strangers to one another, even though they both share many of the same concerns and goals," Kent Redford, lead author of the paper, said in a press release. "An open discussion between the two communities is needed to help identify areas of collaboration on a topic that will likely change the relationship of humans with the natural world."
Redford and his research colleagues hope to cover at least five main topics during the synthetic biology conference: the possibilities of recreating extinct species; how synthetic organisms will interact with existing species; what the current definition of "natural" is; the possibility of using synthetic biology to human civilization is certain tasks, such as pollution control; and the use of synthetic life for private applications, which would include providing support for work in industry, agriculture and aquaculture.
Of course, the field of synthetic biology has also received a considerable amount of negative attention, particularly when considering genetically modified food and other organisms. There's been a notable backlash from those opposed the GMOs in the U.S., where about 90 percent of the corn, soy and cotton crops are already genetically modified.
Such public concerns prompted study co-author Bill Adams to note: "Our strategies for conserving ecosystems, species and genetic diversity, formulated over the past century, are profoundly challenged by synthetic biology...The implications of this emerging field must be incorporated into conservation theory and practice if efforts to save biodiversity are to be effective."
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