Concerns about safety and security in the young field of synthetic biology are developing almost as rapidly as the research itself. With scientists now able to create complete genomes from scratch and to introduce new characteristics into viruses and bacteria, there are fears that accidental — or worse, intentional — release of such creatures could occur. As a result, the US government, academics and the field's first private companies are now working together to address the potential problems before they become a reality. Synthetic biology is one of the priorities for the newly formed US National Science Advisory Board for Biosecurity (NSABB), which met for the first time in June. A working group on the topic, set up by the board, will begin its discussions later this month. Its members have already consulted synthetic biologists who have set up their own governance project, funded by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation in New York, which will have its first meeting in September.
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机译：在合成生物学的年轻领域中，对安全性的担忧几乎与研究本身一样迅速发展。现在，科学家们能够从头开始创建完整的基因组，并将新的特性引入病毒和细菌，人们担心这种生物可能会意外地释放，或者甚至是故意释放。结果，美国政府，学者和该领域的第一批私人公司现在正在共同努力，以解决潜在的问题，直到它们成为现实。合成生物学是新成立的美国国家生物安全科学咨询委员会（NSABB）的优先事项之一，该委员会于6月首次开会。由董事会设立的有关该主题的工作组将在本月晚些时候开始讨论。它的成员已经咨询了合成生物学家的意见，这些生物学家已经建立了自己的治理项目，该项目由纽约的Alfred P. Sloan基金会资助，该基金会将于9月召开第一次会议。
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