Research On Philosophical Foundation Of Synthetic Biology

Known as the most innovative and convergent emerging discipline in the 21 st century,synthetic biology will play a profound and positive role in various fields such as medicine,food,energy,materials,agriculture and environment.At present,the development of synthetic biology has been promoted to the level of national strategic planning in most countries.The novelty and uniqueness of synthetic biology lies in the design and construction of living organisms from scratch and the construction of standardized and modular Bio Bricks that can be used to assemble biological devices and systems.After nearly two decades of development,synthetic biology has attracted extensive attention and discussion in the fields of science,technology,ethics,law and safety.Only at the philosophical level,there is a lack of systematic research on conceptual metaphor,paradigm innovation and life understanding caused by synthetic biology,especially the epistemology,methodology and ontology issues prominent in these problems.Through the exploration of these fundamental philosophical questions,this paper aims to help us clarify the basic concepts,engineering nature and its impact on the understanding of life of synthetic biology,and hopes to promote the solution of other aspects of the problem.First of all,through the metaphor type(religious metaphor,book metaphor,digital metaphor,machine metaphor and engineering metaphor)of metaphor and differentiating behind semantic ontology and real ontology clarify,this paper pointed out that the construction and use of different kinds of metaphor is not only to design and build a new synthetic biology organism provides a conceptual framework,cognitive way,also played an enlightening role of methodology,enabling living organisms to be reconstructed by digital and engineering methods.The use of life metaphor also restarts our philosophical discussions on the nature of life,nature and artificial,life and machine.Secondly,by analyzing the concept of "building life to understanding it" in synthetic biology and the traditional concept of "Ge-wu-zhi-zhi",this paper point out that this concept transformation actually reflects the transformation of biology from analytical method to synthetic method.By comparing the methodological changes of traditional biology and synthetic biology,this paper points out the fact that biological methodology has changed from reduction to system,from analysis to synthesis,from qualitative to quantitative,and points out that the dominant physical paradigm in biology is changing to engineering paradigm.However,in view of the coexistence of two paradigms in the development framework of synthetic biology,the paradigm transformation has not been completed,so the term of paradigm innovation is more appropriate.This paper introduces Mick Boone’s basic views on biological engineering paradigm,and points out that his epistemological constructivism is the core of biological engineering paradigm,which emphasizes the cognitive function and practical use of knowledge construction(from pursuing the truth of knowledge to emphasizing the usefulness of knowledge).This view coincides with synthetic biologists’ idea that "building life to understanding it" and make bio-artifacts for use.Finally,through the introduction of the philosophy of artificial life,this paper pointed out that the computational view that life is an algorithm or a program is reflected in the empirical research of synthetic biology,which maintains the continuity of ontology.This continuity,on the one hand,continues to blow the vitality of life theory,on the other hand,it also provides an opportunity for the formation of a new digital vitality theory.By introducing and comparing the philosophical and scientific views on the origin of life,this paper demonstrated that the synthetic interpretation of the origin of life does not completely prove the correctness of the chemical evolution theory or the error of the vitalism theory,but it means that the synthetic interpretation of the origin of life challenges the general and historical interpretation of the past.By comparing the historical and contemporary views of organisms as machines,this paper proposed that synthetic organisms should not be classified as natural organisms,living machines,or general technological artefacts.Only when synthetic organisms are more artificial,less natural,less organic,and more mechanical,they will be less and less different from technical artefacts in general(especially machine systems).To sum up,the premise of a new understanding of life is to accept the transformation of life from natural to artificial,and to realize that synthetic life greatly expands the biological possibilities,and lays the foundation for the establishment of universal biology and the development of a more universal concept of life in the future.