This was the question asked at a symposium organized by the 菊花视频 at Cambridge University this week, attended by about 80 synthetic biologists and conservationists. These are two communities that have never come together and, like a first date, we were examining each other and building some trust.

It was clear that synthetic biology 鈥� which involves the engineering of life 鈥� was advancing rapidly and inevitably could impact the world鈥檚 biodiversity 鈥� and could be either a positive or negative. The conservationists from WCS, The Nature Conservancy, WWF, Fauna & Flora International, and other leading groups and academic institutions, all wanted to know more.

Read the symposium's framing paper, >>

Read the essay published in the online journal Plos Biology, &驳迟;&驳迟;听