Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Synthetic Biology As a Replica of Synthetic Chemistry? Uses and Misuses of History

  • Published:
Biological Theory Aims and scope Submit manuscript

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Balmer A, Martin P (2008) Synthetic Biology: Social and Ethical Challenges. Nottingham, UK: Institute for Science and Society.

    Google Scholar 

  • Benner SA, Sismour AM (2005) Synthetic biology. Nature Reviews Genetics 6: 533–543.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Berthelot M (1860) La Chimie organique fondée sur la synthèse. Paris: Alcan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Berthelot M (1876) La Synthese chimique. Paris: Alcan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Boyle, R (1661) The Sceptical Chymist, London, digital facsimile, Van Pelt Library, University of Pennsylvania.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brooke JH (1968) Wöhler’s urea and its vital force: A verdict from the chemists. Ambix 15: 84–114.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Deplazes A (2009) Piecing together a puzzle. EMBO Reports 10: 428–132.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Endy D (2005) Foundations for engineering biology. Nature 438: 449–453.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Forster AC, Church GM (2007) Synthetic biology projects in vitro. Genome Research 17: 1–6.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Furter WF, ed (1980) History of Chemical Engineering. Washington, DC: American Chemical Society.

    Google Scholar 

  • Haber LF (1958) The Chemical Industry During the Nineteenth Century: A Study of the Economic Aspect of Applied Chemistry in Europe and North America. Oxford, UK: Clarendon Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hoffmann R (1995) In praise of synthesis. In: The Same and Not the Same. 94–100. New York: Columbia University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Homburg E, Schröter H, Travis A, eds (1998) The Chemical Industry in Europe, 1850–1914: Industrial Growth, Pollution and Professionalization. Dordrecht, the Netherlands: Kluwer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Keller EF (2002) Making Sense of Life. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lartigue C, Glass JI, Alperovich N, Pieper R, Parmar PP, Hutchison CA III, Smith HO, Venter JC (2007) Genome transplantation in bacteria: Changing one species to another. Science 317: 632–638.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leduc S ([1910] 1911) Théorie physico-chimique de la vie et génération spontanée. Paris: Poinsot. English transl. The Mechanism of Life, London, William Heineman.

    Google Scholar 

  • O’Malley M, Powell A, Davies JF, Calvert J (2009) Knowledge-making distinctions in synthetic biology. BioEssays 30: 57–65.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ramberg P (2000) The death of vitalism and the birth of organic chemistry: Wöhler’s urea synthesis and the disciplinary identity of chemistry. Ambix 47: 170–195.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reinhardt C (1998) An instrument of corporate strategy: The central research laboratory at BASF, 1868–1890. In: The Chemical Industry in Europe, 1850–1914 (Homburg E, Schroter E, Travis A, eds), 239–260. Dordrecht, the Netherlands: Kluwer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Russell CA (1987) The changing role of synthesis in organic chemistry. Ambix 34: 169–180.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Simpson, ML (2006) Cell free synthetic biology: A bottom up approach to discover by design. Molecular Systems Biology. doi: 10.1038/msb4100104

  • Unsigned editorial (2007) Meanings of life. Nature 447: 1031–1032.

  • Yeh BJ, Lim WA (2007) Synthetic biology: Lessons from the history of synthetic organic chemistry. Nature Chemical Biology 3: 521–525.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Département de Philosophie, Université Paris Ouest/IUF, Paris, France

    Bernadette Bensaude-Vincent

Authors
  1. Bernadette Bensaude-Vincent
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Bernadette Bensaude-Vincent.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Bensaude-Vincent, B. Synthetic Biology As a Replica of Synthetic Chemistry? Uses and Misuses of History. Biol Theory 4, 314–318 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1162/BIOT_a_00007

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1162/BIOT_a_00007

Keywords

Search

Navigation