Centre for Contemporary Studies
Invites you to a talk on
Do It Yourself Synthetic Biology –
Bio hacking , Democratization
of Science and Social Good
Speaker:
Dr. Krishna Ravi Srinivas
Faculty
Research and Information Centre for Developing Countries,
New Delhi
Date: Thursday 26 March 2015
Venue: CCS Seminar Hall, IISc, Bangalore
Time: 4:00 pm
Tea/Coffee will be served at 3:30 pm
Abstract: Do It Yourself Synthetic Biology (DIY SynBio) has attracted much attention because of its
novelty and concerns over biosecurity and biosafety. In this presentation I provide an overview of this
phenomenon and point out that DIY SynBio is much more than amateur biology as groups working in
this are contributing to synbio and build labs for citizen engagement and participation while some are
specifically concerned with applying synbio for meeting socially relevant needs and products. By
developing cheaper alternatives and democratizing science they are demystifying science. Developing
nations should utilize and encourage DIY SynBio. While concerns over biosecurity and biosafety have
to be addressed exaggerating them in the context DIY SynBio will be counterproductive.
URL: http://ces.iisc.ernet.in/hpg/ragh/ccs/Welcome.html