Rethinking the Way of Life —Synthetic Biology

Synthetic biology is a rapidly developing field which stems from normal genetic engineering, and benefiting from the advances of chemical and physical experimental technology. In doing so, scientists can artificially create or predict certain traits of a creature. Serving as a tool to manipulate gene expression and genome sequence, synthetic biology has multiple applications such as for studying microorganisms, agriculture, environmental conservation, and economy. In the orthodox belief, people are not capable of intervening with inherent gene traits, but as breakthroughs in synthetic biology are constantly made, rethinking of the way of life is needed. Challenges and opportunities always appear simultaneously. Not only were the scientific thoughts shown through the development of synthetic biology invaluable, but people shall consider further topics of life. That is, what can be done with synthetic biology, for humankind and for the world. A brief introduction about this field will be given, and the applications and prospect about synthetic biology will also be discussed. In conclusion, all the advancements in this field have greatly enhanced scientists’ ability to manipulate genomes and have deepened their understandings about the way of life.