Dr Martyn Amos, Senior Lecturer and Public Engagement Fellow, Department of Computing and Mathematics, Manchester Metropolitan University puts forward this provocation on Synthetic Biology:

The engineering of living cells is now routine; synthetic biologists are beginning to harness the power of life for the purposes of human-engineered processing.

Cells, gels and DNA are the wetware of the 21st century.

Engineered biological micro-bots will be directed at some of the most challenging problems facing humanity, but what are the risks, and who might get hurt?

A slightly scary future, some might say.

What do you think? Please share your thoughts in the comments below.

Image credit: New Scientist