합성생물학 전수조사, 모니터링 및 평가체계 수립에 대한 국제적 논의 동향 및 국내 대응 방안 연구

Synthetic biology is one of the cross-cutting issues currently receiving the most attention in the Convention on Biological Diversity(CBD) and the two supplementary agreements of CBD, the Cartagena Protocol and Nagoya Protocol. The legal basis for such attention is the precautionary principle specified in the preamble of CBD and Article 10(6) of the Cartagena Protocol. According to the precautionary principle, despite insufficient scientific evidence for the potential risks of synthetic biology, the potential risks currently raised provide the international community a basis of discussion for regulating synthetic biology. The 15th Conference of the Parties(COP15) to the CBD, which will be held in 2021, is going to 1) set up horizon scanning, monitoring and assessment of the recent development of synthetic biology, as a part of institutional discipline in synthetic biology, and 2) establish a multi-disciplinary technical expert group to support it. This is the result of the 14th Conference of Parties(COP14) to the Convention on Biodiversity. Parties in the COP14 agreed on a broad examination and regulation on the potential positive and negative effects of the most recent technological development of synthetic biology. International organizations, such as the International Union for Conservation of Nature(IUCN), and developed countries are also rushing to study and respond to potential side effects of synthetic biology. Recently, the United States report the limitation of current regulatory systems on regulating the potential negative effects of synthetic organisms. Numerous synthetic organisms will be created in the future and will possibly have a huge impact on the environment. Britain and Germany also raise the need to establish a new regulatory regime for only synthetic organisms because synthetic organisms cannot be characterized by any existing organisms. Despite increasing international concerns over the potential side effects of synthetic biology and rushing to come up with countermeasures, Korea has not yet recognized the need of new monitoring and evaluation system, which is different from the existing system for genetically modified organisms. It is time for our country to pay attention to the potential side effects of synthetic biology-applied products on humans and the environment. Therefore, this study first examines the background and process behind the start of discussing recent technological development in synthetic biology in international conventions, and what has been agreed internationally. Then, we look at the main contents that are presented with the establishment of horizon scanning, monitoring and assessment of the development of synthetic biology. Finally, based on this research, I would like to present domestic countermeasures and policy tasks from an institutional perspective.