Synthetic Biology Makes Scary Headlines, But Universities Promote It as a Lifesaver.

The article reports on synthetic biology and explores ways in which research into this field by universities and institutions can lead to developing more effective and efficient medicines, renewable resources, and energy sources. A brief history of genetic experimentation in organisms is provided and research on genetic structuring by biomedical engineer James J. Collins, cancer cell elimination by biological engineer Ron Weiss, and artemisinin development, a malaria drug, by chemical engineer Jay D. Keasling are highlighted. Other topics include the moral and ethical aspects of biomedical research, human DNA genome research by scientist J. Craig Venter, and corporate and public funding for synthetic biology research.