Table 1.

Overview of the various approaches to synthetic biology

Approach	Scientific background	Vision	Technique	Notable societal impact
Bioengineering	Engineering, biotechnology	Making biology an engineering discipline	Standardized and elaborated genetic engineering	Biosafety: interaction with environment Ethics: turning organisms into machines
Synthetic genomics	Molecular biology, chemistry	Chassis organisms	DNA synthesis	Biosecurity: synthesis of pathogens
Protocell synthetic biology	Chemistry, biochemistry	Synthetic cells	Chemical synthesis of a cell	Ethics: in vitro synthesis of life
Unnatural molecular biology	Chemistry, biochemistry, molecular biology	‘Parallel life'	Synthesis of unnatural genomes and biological adaptation of the cell	Ethics: in vitro synthesis of life Biosafety: resistance to viruses
In silico synthetic biology	Computer science, engineering	Designed organisms	Computer technology	Only as applied to other approaches
All synthetic-biology approaches	–	New forms of life, designed life	–	Biosafety and biosecurity depending on applications Ethics: related to the impact on society and related to dealing with life