[HIB]British public 'relaxed' about synthetic life

SOME people may shudder at the idea of scientists creating synthetic life but not, it seems, the British. At least that's the message from a UK government-funded "dialogue" with the public about synthetic biology. "We expected people to be very wary of claims about creating synthetic life, but they weren't," says Brian Johnson, the independent consultant who led the exercise. "They were quite relaxed about it, and seemed to see it as a natural extension of biological knowledge," he says. "Those with disabilities or illness were most keen because of the medical potential, whereas others urged caution till the societal and ethical issues had been considered," says Johnson, whose report on the dialogue was published on Monday on the bbsrc.ac.uk website.

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