A lot of people think that the main ethical concern about creating artificial life is that it is
an act of playing God. There are scientist who argue in favor of the further development
and commerce of artificial life forms and those who strongly argue against it. Those in
favor believe that this has profound and unparalleled potential benefits, including
developing new biofuels, being able to deal with pollution, and new medical treatments.
California Representative Henry Waxman, Chair of the House Energy and Commerce
Committee, said in a hearing on the topic of synthetic biology: “Synthetic biology has the
potential to reduce our dependence on oil and to address climate change. Research is
underway to develop microbes that would produce oil, giving us a renewable fuel that
could be used interchangeably with gasoline without creating more global warming
pollution. Research could also lead to oil-eating microbes, an application that, as the Gulf
spill unfortunately demonstrates, would be extremely useful.” With all of these favorable
possibilities created simultaneously with this new form of life, it would be unwise at this
time to completely outlaw contracts involving synthetic life. Much further research and
development on the organisms as well as the ethics surrounding it, is required before
considering outlawing contracts involving these organisms. It is not impossible that there
may be a time in the future where humans have ered to such a catastrophic degree, whether
it be environmental damage or the widespread of an incurable disease, that the only chance
of survival would be to rely on this new man-made life form.
