Re: [DIYbio] Re: Policy and Regulations of GMOs

Will require much public relations, but "open science" could be a good issue to promote DIYBio acceptation.....in Europe many people is quite unconfortable with current patenting system, which has been one of the most recurrent argument in the anti-GMO campaigns over the last decades, even though the  European Commission is one the most strong supporters of invasive IP rights.....

Il giorno sabato 25 maggio 2013 13:21:47 UTC+2, Mega ha scritto:

> Also - "amateurs"? Not everybody who works in a DIYbio lab is an amateur.

Ok, language / language usage difference... Of course, they are not "amateurs" ,  but the public (in Europe) will see the as amateurs. They are not "professional scientists" - and the public doesn't even trust professional scientists... Nor will they trust some guy who works with "potential pathogens" (as they hear from wikipedia) in an improvised lab...

Will require much public relations...



On Fri, May 24, 2013 at 8:57 PM, Patrik D'haeseleer <pat...@gmail.com> wrote:
On Thursday, May 23, 2013 10:50:12 PM UTC-7, Mega wrote:
Ok, see your point. But how do you tell the public that "amateurs" work with "potential pathogens"? with BS1 you can say there is practically no risk.

Carefully.

Rather than explaining to the public what the upper limits of BSL-2/BS2 include, I  think it is far more useful to explain what kind of work you intend to do (or explicitly *not* do) in your lab. Just because you have a BSL-2 lab doesn't mean that you have to allow people working with Dengue, for example.

As for working with "potential pathogens" - the general public already assumes E. coli is a dangerous pathogen anyway. So pragmatically speaking, it is no more of an uphill battle to convince people that we can safely work with C. violaceum than with E. coli. And people will naturally assume that isolating cellulose degrading bacteria from soil is FAR safer than genetically engineering E. coli.

Also - "amateurs"? Not everybody who works in a DIYbio lab is an amateur. And hardly anyone working in a BSL-2 lab will be. BSL-2 does require access controls (i.e., a door with a lock) and rigorous training, so typically only the people who know very well what they are doing will be working in the BSL-2 part of the lab.

Patrik

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Il giorno sabato 25 maggio 2013 13:21:47 UTC+2, Mega ha scritto:
> Also - "amateurs"? Not everybody who works in a DIYbio lab is an amateur.

Ok, language / language usage difference... Of course, they are not "amateurs" ,  but the public (in Europe) will see the as amateurs. They are not "professional scientists" - and the public doesn't even trust professional scientists... Nor will they trust some guy who works with "potential pathogens" (as they hear from wikipedia) in an improvised lab...

Will require much public relations...



On Fri, May 24, 2013 at 8:57 PM, Patrik D'haeseleer <pat...@gmail.com> wrote:
On Thursday, May 23, 2013 10:50:12 PM UTC-7, Mega wrote:
Ok, see your point. But how do you tell the public that "amateurs" work with "potential pathogens"? with BS1 you can say there is practically no risk.

Carefully.

Rather than explaining to the public what the upper limits of BSL-2/BS2 include, I  think it is far more useful to explain what kind of work you intend to do (or explicitly *not* do) in your lab. Just because you have a BSL-2 lab doesn't mean that you have to allow people working with Dengue, for example.

As for working with "potential pathogens" - the general public already assumes E. coli is a dangerous pathogen anyway. So pragmatically speaking, it is no more of an uphill battle to convince people that we can safely work with C. violaceum than with E. coli. And people will naturally assume that isolating cellulose degrading bacteria from soil is FAR safer than genetically engineering E. coli.

Also - "amateurs"? Not everybody who works in a DIYbio lab is an amateur. And hardly anyone working in a BSL-2 lab will be. BSL-2 does require access controls (i.e., a door with a lock) and rigorous training, so typically only the people who know very well what they are doing will be working in the BSL-2 part of the lab.

Patrik

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