HTGAA : Principles & Practices

HTGAA: Intro, Principles & Practices

David Kong (MIT), George Church (Harvard), Megan Palmer (Stanford)

Class Material

Principles & Practices Assignments

Ethics, safety and security are essential considerations throughout (and beyond!) this class. We have therefore designed an assignment this week to give you a strong foundation, and then will ask you to reflect each week and in the design of your final project.

Assignment: Design one “governance” action to ensure an “ethical” future for biotechnology Some example actions for ensuring non-maleficence (e.g. preventing harm) include: require ethics and safety training to get access to labs and materials, pre-registering potentially dangerous experiments, product safety standards and testing, licensing all synthetic biologists, create a whistleblowing mechanism for bad behavior, developing a safety innovation prize, etc.)

In 3 sections present (to the best of your knowledge, with a little digging. Feel free to use analogies to other areas of science and engineering, e.g. 3D printing, drones etc ):

Goals & Rationale
- How does it work now (to the best of your knowledge) and how would you like that to change?
- Why is this change desirable? (Try to suggest ethical the principle(s) you might you be applying e.g. non-malificence, justice)?
Design & Requirements
- What action(s) do you propose? What are alternatives? (see examples above)
- What is needed to make it “work”? (who must opt in, fund, approve, implement, etc)
Assumptions & Risks of “Success”
- What are potential unintended consequences of your proposed actions?
- What could you have wrong (incorrect assumptions, uncertainties)?

Please upload week1 assignment on your website on Gitlab

Useful Resources

iGEM Safety Hub: This page includes links to many useful resources including the WHO biosafety manual, the NIH guidelines and the CDC Biosafety in Microbial and Biomedical Laboratories Guide
SynTechBio Tools: This page links to a first version of a biohacker manual to help you get your DIY-Bio Space up and running
DIYBio Ask a biosafety expert This page includes a portal where you can get your biosafety questions answered by professionals
US Presidential Commission on the Study of Bioethical Issues Report: "New Directions: The Ethics of Synthetic Biology and Emerging Technologies” This report considers the ethics of biotechnology and other emerging technologies
Synopsis of Biological Safety and Security Arrangements (Gronvall & Rozo (2015): This report describes biosafety and biosecurity rules and regulations in many countries
Synthetic Genomics: Options for Governance This is an older but useful report for thinking about a variety of options for the governance of biotechnology

HTGAA: Intro, Principles & Practices

Class Material

Principles & Practices Assignments

Related Readings & References

Useful Resources