A Snapshot of Bioengineering Past

The more I know about synthetic biology, the more I feel like it is this vast, unexplored territory that is both exciting and a little bit unsettling. On the one hand, better understanding how to engineer biology will allow us to potentially benefit an incredible amount. On the other, there is the fact that we currently lack that understanding, a fact that was emphasized over and over again in the in-class video about recombinant DNA research. 

I found that video to be really thought provoking. I heard strong arguments for both sides, and I could see why the debate would be so heated. But even though I am an avid supporter of science, I think that if I were a citizen in those early days, I would lean towards suppressing the research just out of fear and concern. 

Regardless, I think it is a good thing that there is generally some friction in getting change to occur in society. Even though it can be extremely frustrating, dissent serves as a sort of buffering mechanism to promote stability, a sort of critical thinking filter to make sure nothing catastrophic happens. (Or perhaps “sure” is bad word choice.) Having said that, however, I believe that society is always going to head in the direction of progress, in the direction of change, despite perhaps being slowed down by debate and dissent. And I think this is simply because people always want to strive for something better, and once we do obtain something better, we cannot go back.

So I think synthetic biology is definitely a growing field, but I feel like I haven’t gotten to see many examples of real-world applications. I mean, getting to see kangaroos imprinted on agar in a Petri dish is really cool, but it isn’t practical. Clearly, a camera takes a better photograph than light sensitive bacteria do. But maybe there are certain tasks that only bacteria do better, and it is these things that I think are particularly exciting. I would love to learn how to take advantage of biomaterials for their unique properties. Maybe also learn how they can save the world. That would be nice. 

But that’s just the delirium and slight sickness talking (incoherently). I hope to get a better grasp of bioengineering through the project, which I am very excited for!