Back to Engineering Life: Synbio, Bioethics & Public Policy
Johns Hopkins University

Engineering Life: Synbio, Bioethics & Public Policy

Synbio is a diverse field with diverse applications, and the different contexts (e.g., gain-of-function research, biofuels) raise different ethical and governance challenges. The objective of this course is to increase learners’ awareness and understanding of ethical and policy/governance issues that arise in the design, conduct and application of synthetic biology. The course will begin with a short history of recombinant DNA technology and how governance of that science developed and evolved, and progress through a series of areas of application of synbio. Content will be presented in many forms, including not only reading and lectures, but also recorded and live interviews and discussions with scientists, ethicists and policy makers. Learners will have the opportunity to think, write and talk about the issues and challenges in their own work and in real-life case examples. A final project will engage students in the development of governance models for synbio.

Status: Ethical Standards And Conduct
Status: Policy Development
IntermediateCourse17 hours

Featured reviews

AN

Reviewed Sep 11, 2018

Dr. Matthews is a fantastic instructor; Slide deck is great.

JS

Reviewed Nov 6, 2019

pretty good class. kind of technical but gives one some good stuff to think about

AH

Reviewed Nov 5, 2020

Great course! Learn a lot of new information about governance in Synbio.

GG

Reviewed Nov 29, 2020

Very insightful course for young scientists and engineers to understand bioethics!

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