Background: Synthetic biology is an interdisciplinary branch of biology and engineering. As synthetic biology develops into a promising science and engineering field, we need to clarify the purpose and nature of this science in terms of security, ethics and the recognition of the benefits of potential risks. The aim of this study was to evaluate the researchers’ attitudes toward synthetic biolo...

"concepts 'eternels"' (p. 23) to which we must respond. The first two papers (by Hellmut Flashar and Vivian Nutton) survey the similarities and differences between Hippocratic medical ethics and our own. As Nutton points out in the discussion of Flashar's paper, "the relationship between modem medical ethics and those that can be loosely termed Hippocratic is far from simple" (p. 21). "Hippocra...