Reflections on the practice of Responsible (Research and) Innovation in synthetic biology

Abstract

This paper is a critical reflection on the concepts of Responsible Innovation (RI) and Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI). We offer an account of the emergence of these related but different accounts of responsible innovation that have recently been adopted by funders. We further report on our exploration of the knowledge and understanding of these concepts through the views of senior scientists involved in synthetic biology research projects. Though most of our respondents struggled to provide a clear account of RI/RRI we identified that existing “practices of responsibility” include many aspects of RI/RRI but that this often went unrecognized as such. Most respondents associated RI/RRI with risk avoidance. While some visions of RI/RRI see scientists as taking an active role in shaping the future of innovation, we suggest that it is not for such individuals to take decisions alone on the types of futures a society should have available to it.

Keywords:

• Responsible Research and Innovation
• synthetic biology
• ELSI
• risk

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the interviewees for their time and candor and the participants at the Policy, Ethics and Life Sciences (PEALS) Research Centre 19th International Symposium “The implications and impacts of a responsibility agenda for synthetic biology” for stimulating discussions. We also extend our thanks to the two anonymous referees whose constructive critiques helped us clarify our thinking and made this a better paper. This work was supported by an award from the UK Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, EPSRC grant EP/N031962/1.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1 Synthetic Portabolomics: Leading the way at the crossroads of the Digital and the Bio Economies, funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), award EP/N031962/1.

2 “Gene drives are systems that bias the inheritance of a particular DNA sequence. They can be used to increase the persistence of an introduced trait that would otherwise disappear from a population very rapidly because the introduced trait puts the organism at a disadvantage. They can also spread a desired trait through a population. Many such systems occur naturally, and these are inspiring the development of new gene drives using synthetic biology techniques.” (https://royalsociety.org/-/media/policy/Publications/2018/08-11-18-gene-drive-statement.pdf) In this way gene drives could be designed to quickly spread a trait that for example could aim to eliminate malaria carrying mosquitoes from a particular environment. There are significant socio-ethical concerns about such work and debate continues worldwide on the risk versus benefit of such a strategy.

3 The acronym AREA represents the four key components of RI: Anticipate, Reflect, Engage, Act.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by an award from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, EPSRC grant EP/N031962/1.