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Philipp Böing

UCL iGEM / SynBioSoc organizer, student (computer science), University College London

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Should Synthetic Organisms be released to clean plastic pollution from the ocean?

The Problem: Microplastic pollution in the ocean.
Proposed Solution: Engineered Organisms that can collect the pollution into recyclable pieces. (the science behind this: http://www.ucl.ac.uk/igem2012 )
A video explanation: http://youtu.be/rEDLg03teOk

Should Synthetic Organisms be released to clean plastic pollution from the ocean? Is synthetic biology the only solution to plastic pollution? Can we anticipate and prevent any negative repercussions? Do the potential risks outweigh the benefits? Who could profit from this? Who calls the shots?

Related Talks:
Topics: Bioethics Genetic engineering geoengineering legal issues ocean conservation ocean ecology plastic pollution synthetic biology
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    Maxime Touzel

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    Jul 14 2012: Yes, synthetic biology is part of the future, we must give it a chance, it's a cheap way to solve very costly problems.

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