In This Project We Investigate Public Views Around Synthetic Biology and its Applications to Society
Background
Synthetic biology uses engineering and experimental scientific approaches to create novel biological systems. As a transformative technology, its development includes applications across areas of environmental management, health, agriculture and sustainable manufacturing.
Through the Research School of Social sciences (RSSS) and the Australian National Centre for the Public Awareness of Sciences (CPAS), the Australian National University has partnered with CSIRO to advance the science and practice of responsible innovation in synthetic biology. It forms a strong link between the ANU and CSIRO’s Responsible Innovation Future Science Platform, conducting multidisciplinary research that involves responsible innovation, psychology, anthropology, philosophy and science and technology studies.
Our story
Challenge
What do Australians think of synthetic biology and its potential applications? The premise of this project is simple. Public engagement is core to responsible innovation. However, there is a dearth of qualitative research into Australian views regarding synthetic biology.
Synthetic biology has the capacity to address major societal and environmental challenges; it is also capable of doing harm. Beyond specific risks, its implementation has the potential to alienate wider publics. This can occur either through overpromising, remaining opaque both in development and true applications, or representing people as a monolithic impediment to scientific progress. This stems from the broader issue of exclusion of perspectives from considerations during research and development.
Now, with Australia’s rapidly developing capacity in synthetic biology, there is a need to consider, in detail, what publics think. Nationally representative research from CSIRO has provided quantitative analyses of support for, knowledge of, and attitudes towards a range of synthetic biology applications. There is a need to further this work with qualitative investigations. Here, we seek to contribute to the responsible innovation of synthetic biology via in-depth, qualitative research.
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Firstly, the project involves a literature review on findings regarding public views on emerging technologies, including synthetic biology, throughout the world. This will aid the development of the methods involved in data collection, provide an opportunity to reflect on potential topics and themes that may arise, and for situating our later findings.
For the bulk of the subsequent research, the main methods comprise public focus group discussions. They will consider public sensemaking and public reasoning, alongside in-depth interviews, discussions with targeted specialists and thought-leaders, as well as workshops. A particular interest will be taken in how emotionally potent imagery and narrative devices may be used to reason through and justify positions.
An auxiliary question in this research, and an enduring one for responsible innovation in general, is what kind of future people wish synthetic biology to bring into the world? This project will carefully consider and thematically analyse how desirable or undesirable people find a range of synthetic biology applications, to better understand the details of optimism on the one hand, and concerns on the other. But it will go beyond documenting support or concerns for synthetic biology by encouraging participants to consider what kind of a world they want, and what kind of world they would like its applications to enable? We will take analyses to members of the broader synthetic biology ‘epistemic community’ (comprising practitioners, thought-leaders and social science researchers) to consider how views can be better integrated into this emerging field.
Through this project we hope to provide a platform for a plurality of viewpoints, to help inform science communication and innovations that are more responsive to societal perspectives and needs.
If you have any question about the project or interested in collaboration, you can contact the Project Lead Dr. Henry Dixson.