Boundary Work of Risk: A Comparative Study on Molecular Robotics and Synthetic Biology

• In Event: Innovating, Interrupting & Regenerating the Human-Technology Frontier - I

Abstract

Dual use, the situation when it is unclear how to prevent misuse without foregoing beneficial applications of technology, poses a real challenge for civil society in the effort to prevent harmful misuse. Although scientists play a major role in the effort, their commitment should vary depending on how they evaluate the risk of their own fields. In this paper, I shed light on how scientists deal with dual-use concerns, based on interview surveys conducted on researchers in the fields of molecular robotics and synthetic biology in Tokyo. Molecular robotics is an emerging discipline involving the design and creation of biological structures that serve various purposes by manipulating the order of nucleotides in DNA. In other words, it is the process of creating nanoscale robots utilizing the self-replicating capacity of DNA. Although the current accomplishments of the field remain experimental, the potential applicability of these structures is immense, as are the consequences of their misuse. Based on the comparative analysis of the adjacent fields, I demonstrate how the experts from different fields define the potential benefits and risks intrinsic to the process of their development and social implementation. In particular, I delve into their boundary work of risk, which is the practice demarcating the intrinsic risk of a given technology. This presentation details a case study on how the researchers’ considerations regarding the ethical, legal, and social implications (ELSI) of technologies are shaped by their everyday research activities.

Authors

• Ken Kawamura, Seijo Univerisity

• Daisuke Yoshinaga, Waseda University

• Go Yoshizawa, Oslo Metropolitan University

• Mikihito Tanaka, Waseda University

• Ryuma Shineha, Seijo Univerisity