| dc.description.abstract | As an emerging yet disruptive technology, the
most challenging questions surrounding synthetic biology
(SynBio) are, arguably, those of regulatory nature. At the
global scale, such questions have been framed within the
Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and its
protocols. Hence, SynBio regulatory debates have largely
been framed as similar to Living Modified Organisms
(LMOs). National policies on LMOs domesticated from
the CBD frameworks (and other relevant instruments)
have thus been perceived as applicable to the regulation
of SynBio. Recent debates, however, within the CBD, at
regional and national scales, have pointed to the
‘complex’ nature of SynBio leading to a call for policymakers and regulators to ‘update’ LMO regulations or
formulate SynBio-‘specific regulations’. This is so, it is
argued because certain products and components of
SynBio contain unique potential risks and applications.
Consequently, the present study is an excerpt from a
Master Thesis Study, which exploited an exploratory
qualitative design and the theory of adaptive anticipatory
governance, to explore 16 biotechnology and LMOspecific policy documents for adoption of SynBio. The
study was conducted between May November 2021. The
results of the study show that although Kenya has
domesticated several global regimes on biotechnology and
LMOs, the policy environment is still inadequate to
effectively regulate SynBio. The policy environment does
not outline a clear platform for cooperation and
coordination between potential key stakeholders,
including academia, industry and the government, and
the general public. Critically and more importantly, the
biosafety, biosecurity, bioethical risk issues related to
SynBio cannot be properly regulated using current
biotechnology frameworks. The study concludes that
Kenya should consider updating its biotechnology policies
or define a Synthetic biology-specific policy in order to
adapt and implement SynBio in a responsible research
and innovation environment. In this regard, the study
proposed an adaptive anticipatory governance model that
can provide the needed tools to evaluate the regulatory
gaps in the current LMOs regulatory frameworks; hence facilitating the formulation of the requisite regulatory
environment for SynBio. | en_US |
