Abstract
AbstractSynthetic biology, as an engineering approach to biological systems, has the potential to disruptively innovate the development of vaccines, therapeutics, and diagnostics. Data accessibility and differences in data-usage capabilities are important factors in shaping this innovation landscape. In this paper, the data that underpin synthetic biology responses to the COVID-19 pandemic are analyzed as positional information goods—goods whose value depends on exclusivity. The positionality of biological data impacts the ability to guide innovations toward societally preferred goals. From both an ethical and economic point of view, positionality can lead to suboptimal as well as beneficial situations. When aiming for responsible innovation (i.e. embedding societal deliberation in the innovation process), it is important to consider hurdles and facilitators in data access and use. Central governance and knowledge commons provide routes to mitigate the negative effects of data positionality.
Funder
Delft University of Technology
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Subject
Library and Information Sciences,Computer Science Applications
Reference71 articles.
1. Bates, J. (2018). The politics of data friction. Journal of Documentation, 74(2), 412–429.
2. Begley, S. (2020). To develop a coronavirus vaccine, synthetic biologists try to outdo nature. Boston: STAT News.
3. BioBricks(TM) Public Agreement. (2020). Retrieved from https://biobricks.org/bpa/. Accessed 20 June 2020.
4. Boeck Jensen, A., Moseley, P. L., Oprea, T. I., Ellesøe, S. G., Eriksson, R., Schmock, H., et al. (2014). Temporal disease trajectories condensed from population-wide registry data covering 6.2 million patients. Nature Communications, 5, 4022.
5. Bogner, A., & Torgersen, H. (2018). Precaution, responsible innovation and beyond—in search of a sustainable agricultural biotechnology policy. Frontiers in Plant Science, 9, 1884.
Cited by
6 articles.
订阅此论文施引文献
订阅此论文施引文献,注册后可以免费订阅5篇论文的施引文献,订阅后可以查看论文全部施引文献