18.4 Tooard Responsible Research and Innovation RRII)in Synthetic Biology 393
and practices in SB are influenced by the IT world. One specific example is the
uptake and translation of the open access/open source software to the world of
biotechnology, a field where so far restrictive IPR have been used [90]. Unlike
restricting access to crucial information, some synthetic biologists want to
develop an open access to share the information they obtain. That is the the-
ory behind the BioBricks Foundation (BBF), the International Open Facility
Advancing Biotechnology (BioFab), the Biological Innovation for an Open
Society (BIOS), and the Synthetic Biology Open Language (SBOL).
BBF was founded by the scientists involved with the Registry of Standard
Biological Parts, aiming to provide a platform to “ensure that the engineering of
biology is conducted in an open and ethical manner to benefit all people and
the planet.” The Registry of Standard Biological Parts aims to allow interested
actors to contribute and access standard genetic components, so-called parts
and devices. Recently the BBF published the custom made BioBrick™ Public
Agreement, which tries to set up a legal way to ensure open access [91].
BioFab was funded by the National Academy of Sciences (United States) to
support an open technology platform and to provide free genetic constructs that
can be customized for specific applications by academia and industry.
BIOS was created to “enhance the transparency, accessibility and capability
to use all the tools of science, whether patented, open access or public domain.”
It is believed that the “open access to research” concept will not only increase
the transparency in research but also promote free exchange of information.
According to its proponents, such transparency will promote development by
sharing knowledge among the research community and will help to reduce the
misuse of the technology [89].
SBOL is an open source movement for in silico representation of genetic
designs. SBOL is designed to allow electronic-like exchange designs, to send and
retrieve genetic designs to and from the research centers, to facilitate storage of
genetic designs, and to embed genetic designs in publications [92]. More and
more bioparts have now been registered in the database. A registry software, the
Joint BioEnergy Institute Inventory of Composable Elements (JBEI-ICEs), was
created to provide a platform to manage the growing information on bioparts.
The JBEI-ICE is built to support for distributed interconnected use and to pro-
vide well-developed parts storage functionality for other SB software projects.
Figure 18.3 The SYNMOD game app allows players to create and combine different peptide
modules to design new antibiotics. The game is freely available for iOS X and Android devices.
See http://www.biofaction.com/project/synmod-mobile-game/