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Argument: Remote risks should not hold-up synthetic life
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Supporting quotations
Dr. Jon LaPook. "Creating 'Synthetic' Life." Huffington Post. June 3, 2010: "Nobody knows where it will all lead. You can bet your bottom dollar that not all of it will be good but that's been true of just about every human advance."
John Harris. "Promise and risks from ‘life not as we know it’" Financial Times. May 26, 2010: "The dangers of making organisms that have never before existed (which already happens every day in biotech laboratories) will always be largely unknowable in advance. This is not a good enough reason to hold back if the expected benefits are significant. But it does mean we need robust regulation and licensing. The message is this: welcome the outstanding science, ensure good regulation in plenty of time and question an international intellectual property regime that can, disastrously, militate against fair access to the fruits of science."
