Reviews

Owo ondo state attacks again

Synthetic Biology (SynBio) is an emerging scientific field which has quickly established momentum and visibility. Although no single definition of SynBio prevails, Synthetic biology is a new research field that results from the convergence of different technological and scientific disciplines and allows a better understanding of biological systems, their complexity and emergent properties that derive from the interaction of complex pathways and also thereby create organisms or biological systems with novel or specialized functions to address countless needs. This technology is in its nascent state and there are a number of concerns surrounding its potential applications and the nature of research being performed. With the potential to create hitherto unknown “living organisms”, it raises a number of challenges along different dimensions. This article was therefore, to reviews the current status of the scope, potential application, and implication of synthetic biology using different lenses: patentability, ethics, and regulation. To sum up, the scope of synthetic biology research ranged from bottom up to top dawn research strategies. Similarly, potential application of synthetic Biology included the production of bio-products which may have a direct use in a variety of sectors such as bio-remedies, bio-fuels, raw-materials or biomedical tools –vaccines for example–, or new bio-defense agents. In contrast, the debate surrounding synthetic biology has raised several issues, such as bioethics, bio-security, bio-safety, involvement of stakeholders and intellectual property rights which has launched more than 10 years of heated discussion within the scientific community.