Synthetic "Life," Ethics, National Security, and Public Discourse.

The article discusses synthetic biology and synthetic genomics with reference to an article by Gibson and colleagues elsewhere in the issue. It explains the relationship between synthetic biology and synthetic genomics, noting that the latter applies to viruses and cellular life forms, whereas synthetic biology is broader in scope. To date, reportedly, synthetic genomics and biology have been limited to viral genomes. Genetic engineering of DNA is discussed including directed molecular evolution and DNA shuffling. The article discusses means to address issues of biosecurity and ethics associated with these developments including definitional proposals of the U.S. National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity (NSABB).