Rodríguez López Blanca
Rev Derecho Genoma Hum. 2014 Jul-Dec(41):143-66.
Synthetic biology is a new discipline that is twofold: firstly it offers the promise to pay benefits that can alleviate some of the ills that plague mankind; On the other hand, like all technologies, holds risks. Given these, the most critical and concerned about the risks, invoke the application of the precautionary principle, common in cases where an activity or new technology creates risks to the environment and/or human health, but far from universally accepted happens to be currently one of the most controversial principles. In this paper the question of the risks and benefits of synthetic biology and the relevance of applying the precautionary principle are analyzed. To do this we proceed as follows. The first part focuses on synthetic biology. At first, this discipline is characterized, with special attention to what is novel compared to the known as "genetic engineering". In the second stage both the benefits and the risks associated with it are discussed. The first part concludes with a review of the efforts currently being made to control or minimize the risks. The second part aims to analyze the precautionary principle and its possible relevance to the case of Synthetic Biology. At first, the different versions and interpretations of the principle and the various criticisms of which has been the subject are reviewed. Finally, after discarding the Precautionary Principle as an useful tool, it is seen as more appropriate some recent proposals to treat technologies that take into account not only risks but also their benefits.
合成生物学是一门新兴学科，具有双重性：一方面，它有望带来诸多益处，能够缓解一些困扰人类的弊病；另一方面，与所有技术一样，它也存在风险。鉴于此，人们最为关注的是风险问题，并援引预防原则来应对，这一原则在某项活动或新技术对环境和/或人类健康造成风险的情况下较为常见，但目前远未得到普遍认可，它恰好是当前最具争议的原则之一。本文分析了合成生物学的风险与益处问题以及应用预防原则的相关性。为此，我们按以下步骤进行。第一部分聚焦于合成生物学。首先，对这门学科进行了特征描述，特别关注了与所谓“基因工程”相比的新颖之处。在第二阶段，讨论了与之相关的益处和风险。第一部分以对当前为控制或最小化风险所做努力的回顾作为结尾。第二部分旨在分析预防原则及其与合成生物学案例的可能相关性。首先，回顾了该原则的不同版本和解释以及它所遭受的各种批评。最后，在摒弃预防原则作为一种有用工具后，人们认为一些最近提出的、不仅考虑风险还兼顾其益处的技术处理建议更为合适。
