Nature and Culture: Objects, Disciplines and the Manchester Museum
Nature and Culture: Objects, Disciplines and the Manchester Museum
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自然与文化：物品、学科和曼彻斯特博物馆
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发表时间：
2013
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通讯作者：
T. Parsons
中科院分区：
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作者：
T. Parsons
卡尔森在这些问题上采取了一系列挑衅性的立场。例如，他担心在合成病原体的快速进展中可能出现生物恐怖主义，但反对实施任何政府监管机构，因为其效率低下且会产生意想不到的后果，例如黑市的增长。他声称，相反，通过不限制研究，科学家可以为新出现的自然和人工生物威胁做好最好的准备。卡尔森在讨论学术界和生物技术行业当前知识产权管理制度的危险时更加明智。通过指出生物技术行业广泛的专利保护和不断上涨的许可费用可能会抑制创新，卡尔森概述了许多最近以开源软件运动为蓝本的开源生物技术工作，例如以开源软件为蓝本的 BioBricks 基金会。尽管卡尔森对基于公共法律框架来管理创新知识的开放生物学的前景相当矛盾，但他令人信服地展示了合成生物学如何将生命科学中的知识产权问题置于当代工程生命业务讨论的中心。总的来说，卡尔森的书为合成生物学中的许多重要监管、法律和商业问题提供了及时、信息丰富且发人深省的指南。虽然这本书并不是一本全面的生物技术史，但卡尔森通过他对工程（尤其是信息技术）历史的敏锐洞察，展示了生物工程最近出现的愿景之一及其商业影响*，无论是在理性设计的愿望还是公共发展模式方面。一方面，一些读者可能会发现很难看出合成生物学在不久的将来能在多大程度上将生物学重塑为一种技术，特别是对于那些对信息论语言在生命概念化中隐喻（误）使用持怀疑态度的人来说。另一方面，对于那些对科学技术史感兴趣的人来说，卡尔森关于工程生命新愿景的全面主张提供了一个重新思考生命技术实现的历史和未来的好机会。
Carlson takes a set of provocative stances on these subjects. For example, he is concerned about potential bio-terrorism amid the rapid progress in synthesizing pathogens, but opposes implementing any governmental regulation apparatus due to its ineffectiveness and unintended consequences, such as the growth of a black market. Instead, by not restricting research, he claims, scientists can be best prepared for emerging natural and artificial biological threats. Carlson is more sensible when he discusses the perils of the current intellectual property management regime in academia and the biotech industry. By pointing out the potential stifling of innovation due to expansive patent protection and rising licensing fees in the biotech industry, Carlson overviews many recent open-source biotechnology efforts modelled on open-source software movements, such as the BioBricks Foundation, modelled on open-source software. Though Carlson is rather ambivalent about the prospect of open biology based on a commons-based legal framework to manage innovative knowledge, he persuasively shows how synthetic biology put the issue of intellectual property in the life sciences at the centre of contemporary discussions on the business of engineering life. Overall, Carlson’s book provides a timely, informative and thought-provoking guide on many important regulatory, legal and business issues in synthetic biology. While this book is not meant to be a comprehensive history of biotechnology, Carlson presents one of the recent emerging visions of bioengineering and its business implications with his astute take on the history of engineering (especially information technologies)*both in terms of its aspiration of rational design and its mode of communal development. On the one hand, some readers may find it is rather difficult to see how far synthetic biology can remake biology a technology in the near future, especially for those who are suspicious of the metaphoric (mis)uses of the language of information theory in the conceptualization of life. On the other hand, to those who are interested in the history of science and technology, Carlson’s sweeping claims about the new vision of engineering life provides a welcome opportunity to rethink the history and future of the technological implementation of life.