Team:KULeuven/Ethics/Concerns/Framework

A framework
Before the nineteenth century, a lot of people were convinced that there was more than only matter in organic molecules. They believed that there should be something extra in those molecules, and that they could not be created without what could be called an extra touch. In 1828, this general belief was taken off its edges by Friedrich Wöhler, who performed the first organic synthesis by making urea, an organic molecule, out of ammonium cyanate, an inorganic salt.

This extra life-giving property has also been assigned to the molecular nature of biology. In this respect, people believed it was impossible to create life out of inanimate matter. Fact is, however, that recent evolutions in biology and certainly the evolution towards synthetic biology tend to prove otherwise. This is what we already called biological reductionism. This reductionism is what concerns people the most when considering synthetic biology. It evokes a lot of questions concerning life, the universe and everything.