Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2020 Jul 28;15(7):e0235808.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0235808. eCollection 2020.

What is (synthetic) life? basic concepts of life in synthetic biology

Sandra Fernau  1 , Matthias Braun  1 , Peter Dabrock  1
Affiliations

What is (synthetic) life? basic concepts of life in synthetic biology

Sandra Fernau et al. PLoS One. .

Abstract

One of the central aims of synthetic biology (SB) is to better understand the mechanisms of life by trying to develop and synthesize new forms and perhaps modes of life. While the question of what is life has occupied mankind for centuries, there is a lack of empirical research examining the basic concepts of life scientists within SB themselves refer to and build on. In order to gain insights into these fundamental concepts, we conducted a qualitative interview study with scientists working in the field of SB. The aim was to gain a better understanding of the underlying understandings, principles, and characteristics of (synthetic) life on the one hand, and the entangled consequences for the conducted experiments and studies as well as the pursued scientific approaches. We identified four primarily underlying basic concepts of life which serve as a fundamental framework for current and further scientific research within SB and have implications for research questions, approaches and aims as well as for the evaluation of scientific results.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

References

    1. Rasmussen S, Bedau MA, Chen L, Deamer D, Krakauer DC, Packard NH, et al., editors. Protocells. Bridging Nonliving and Living Matter. Cambridge: MIT Press; 2009.
    1. Luisi PL. The Emergence of Life: From Chemical Origins to Synthetic Biology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press; 2006.
    1. Bich L, Green S. Is defining life pointless? Operational definitions at the frontiers of biology. Synthese. 2017;19(9):3919–46. 10.1007/s11229-017-1397-9 - DOI
    1. Bedau MA. The intrinsic scientific value of reprogramming life. Hastings Center Report 2011;(42):29–31. - PubMed
    1. Müller O. Synthetic Biology: On epistemological black boxes, human self-assurance, and the hybridity of practices and values. In: Boldt J, editor. Synthetic biology: Metaphors, Worldviews, Ethics, and Law Wiesbaden: Springer VS; 2016. p. 31–45.

Publication types