Hot off the press we have the first Comixed video slideshow on the potential and impact of Synthetic Biology. The discussion was  lead by Dr Martin Amos from Manchester Metropolitan University and is the first debate out of five held as part of the Comixed – A Comixed Networked Conservation.

The Implications of Synthetic Biology – Comixed from Manchester Beacon on Vimeo.

This is a live blog of the COMIXED: A NETWORKED CONVERSATION event at the Zion Arts Centre, Manchester.

Comixed is a “Networked Conversation” on a number of pressing issues affecting all of us:

Climate Change / The Digital Economy / Ageing / Food Security / Synthetic Biology.

Please read the ‘provocations’ we posted earlier on Climate Change, The Digital Economy, Ageing, Food Security and Synthetic Biology to find out what people thought about these issues before the event.

Please contribute by commenting below, especially if you were there and spot any inaccuracies or inconsistencies!

We want you to get involved.  You can follow us on Twitter and/or contribute using the #cmxd hashtag.  We are @ComixedMcr on Twitter, perhaps follow us? (more…)

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