Is ‘Synthetic Biology’ Exciting or Terrifying?

Synthetic biology is often referred to as being a combination of engineering, chemistry and biology. Synthetic biology is defined as being either the design and construction of new biological parts, devices and systems or the re-design of existing, natural biological systems. This means that a wide range of experimental and tested techniques are used to alter existing biological systems or create new ones. This could mean altering the DNA of a bacterium or inhibiting a material with microorganisms, the possibilities really do stretch even the wildest of imaginations. There are many different levels of synthetic biology, based on the size of the structures involved ranging from a molecular level to multiple organism system. This does not necessarily affect complexity though, all synthetic biology research is proving to be very complicated and difficult but interesting and exciting none-the-less. There are some very interesting and very exciting ideas that scientists have deemed theoretically possible and are currently researching. A lot of these ideas are potentially very beneficial, some to the environment, some to human and animal health, and some to manufacturing. Although still very much unexplored, these theories seem exciting and interesting and make synthetic seem as though it is the future of science. However, there are some ideas that become more ethically and morally controversial, not to mention may have negative effects as well as the proposed positives, and in some cases the ideas may even seem dangerous. Self-repairing materials that are inhibited by cells that produce the material when damage occurs, a face-wash containing enhanced bacteria that will leave your skin clean, clear and infection-free for a month, further research into biofilms that can reduce carbon, nitrogen and sulphur particulate