390 18 Synthetic Biology: From Genetic Engineering 2.0 to Responsible Research and Innovation
gender equality, science education, open access, ethics, and governance; and dis-
cuss how this framework will be constructed.18.4.1 Engagement of All Societal Actors – Researchers, Industry,
Policy Makers, and Civil Society – and Their Joint Participation
in the Research and Innovation
Engagement of all societal actors is key for RRI framework, which will help to
bridge the gap between the scientific community and society at large. The
European Group on Ethics in Science and New Technologies (EGE) published
their opinion article on SB [68]. In this report, the philosophical, anthropologi-
cal, ethical, legal, social, and scientific issues raised by SB were analyzed from
the scientific aspects, legal, governance and policy aspects, and ethical aspects.
It pointed out particularly the importance of public involvement and science–
society dialogue. The European Academies Science Advisory Council also inves-
tigated the scientific and governance implications of SB [69]. It, too, pointed out
the importance of raising public awareness on the opportunities and challenges
of SB among both the scientific community and with the public, as well as con-
tinuous public dialogue to ensure that “endeavours in synthetic biology reflect
wide public interests and aspirations.” Among the six recommendations pro-
vided by the Working Group of Experts, one was on societal engagement,
emphasizing the proactive approaches the research society had already applied
to encourage and inform the public debate based on the accurate information.
Dialogue among all the societal actors is a prerequisite to build a framework of
RRI. Implementing RRI in SB would provide a unique stage for all societal actors
to carry out the dialogues.
A report from the Technology Strategy Board of the United Kingdom outlined
the importance of RRI in SB particularly to its transition to industry applications.
A responsible innovation framework would require ethical, societal, and regula-
tory considerations both during the R&D process and during the commercial
use. Throughout this process, all the stakeholders would have to get involved
[70]. A newly funded project (SYNENERGENE) by the EC under the call for
Science in Society will provide some insight how to such a framework to foster
the growth of SB. This project will be conducted jointly by 27 partners around
Europe, the United States, and Canada, which will bring together a wide range of
scientists, regulators, NGOs, companies, and other stakeholders to act together
to raise public awareness of SB and to get the stakeholders involved and encour-
age public discourse and policy in an international context.
As mentioned in the earlier sections, SB will have the potential to bring
applications to the society, and people from different background would have
different concerns on these applications. Thus, RRI aims to build “transparent,
interactive processes in which societal actors and innovators become mutually
responsive to each other with a view on the ethical acceptability, sustainability
and societal desirability of the innovation process and its marketable products”
[62], ideally bringing together societal actors with different interests and
values to reach a consistent strategy for developing the technologies and their
products.