SIN BIO (SIC)

Synthetic biology, also known as Extreme Genetic Engineering is the next big "little" thing being bankrolled by big agribusiness, among others. A collection of "precocious" syn-biologist, including the infamous, J Craig Venter, the man who privatized the human genome, goes so far as to say that synthetic organisms “will replace the petrochemical industry, most food, clean energy and bioremediation" source. Started by asking "what is life" and attempted to answer that by reducing it to its smallest parts and putting them back together, synthetic biology is now creating "new life" with the building blocks of DNA sequences and chemical engineering. Using biobricksTM which "standard biological parts are DNA sequences of defined structure and function; they share a common interface and are designed to be composed and incorporated into living cells such as E. coli to construct new biological systems" Wiki definition. In an in depth article by the ETC Group: The Last Straw? As Extreme Genetic Engineers Gather in Hong Kong, Critics Warn of Corporate Grab on Plant Life , the appeal to big Agri is described. "the corporate biorefineries fueled by plant sugars will create a massive demand for agricultural feedstocks, which threatens to devastate marginalized farming communities, deplete soil and water, and destroy biodiversity"
What is life? Should scientists alone answer this? How can we ignore the intelligence of symbiosis in this mechanical model of life as biobricks. We are, As Lynn Margulis says "symbionts in a symbiotic planet". Evolution is fired by symbiosis. Can the planet survive without it? Can it be designed? Craig Ventor's reply to "Can you be accused of playing God" : "We're not playing".