There have been many other good explanations of synthetic biology along the way, of course, from USA Today and The Washington Post to the Associated Press and Stanford Magazine. But focusing on major developments published in peer-reviewed journals isn’t the only way to cover the story.

The most important and popular angles are efforts to synthesize organisms that produce clean fuels and that fight disease. But an interesting alternative, for smaller outlets especially, is the International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) competition, an undergraduate synthetic biology contest run by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. The San Francisco Chronicle, the Houston Chronicle, The Capital Times (unfortunately, unavailable online) in Madison, Wisconsin, and other regional newspapers have run stories on local students creating biological “machines” that fight cancer; detect arsenic in water; or simply make the room smell like bananas. NPR did a story about using synthetic biology to brew better beer.

Given this body of work, perhaps one should thank the press for helping elevate American awareness of synthetic biology from 9 to 22 percent, rather than faulting journalists for the low figure overall. Many outlets, such as the Los Angeles Times, have hardly touched the subject, however. That won’t do.

“We probably have at least five years grace before synthetic biology has reached the point where new regulations become really urgent. But that is not reason to procrastinate,” opined an August editorial in the Financial Times, “[I]f synthetic biology is to win public approval while avoiding unnecessarily stifling regulations, scientists must lead an open debate about its risks and rewards.”

True, but it’s the press’s job to foster and facilitate that open debate. Scientists readily admit the “scariness” of the new technology. The risks and rewards of synthetic biology are not something we should wait to discuss until after the first artificial life form has been created.

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