The STS Circle at Harvard and the Ivory Tower Working Group present:

A Roundtable Discussion:
Synthetic Biology, Property, Innovation and Governance

Posted October 3, 2007

Participants:
- Drew Endy (Department of Biological Engineering, MIT)
- Paul Oldham (Centre for Economic and Social Aspects of Genomics, Lancaster University)
- Sheila Jasanoff (John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University)
- Kenneth Oye (Department of Political Science, MIT)

Synthetic Biology is gathering increasing international public and policy attention. MIT researchers who are working in this area are also grappling with growing public debate about the openness of research, intellectual property regimes, and models of innovation and governance in this emerging domain. For researchers in science and technology studies, history of science, political economy and governance, synthetic biology offers a lively site for exploring the wider emergence of the ¡°bioeconomy¡± and the social, economic, and ethical implications of the bioeconomy for human welfare.

This roundtable will bring together specialists from MIT, Harvard and elsewhere in an informal setting to discuss existing work and to identify overlapping areas of interest, and possibilities for constructive and critical collaboration, between science and society groups at MIT and Harvard.

This event took place on MIT's campus Monday, October 1, 2007.