Yes, there would be many potential benefits: genetic engineering for medicine that could cure diseases that have yet to be discovered, genetic engineering for environmental benefit that could potentially reverse pollution and genetic engineering for the chemical industry that could create biofuels instead of destroying their environment. However, I believe the cons outweigh the pros. Yes, there would be some serious benefits to synthetic biology, but at the opposite end of the spectrum, these synthetic advances could also turn out to be completely the opposite of what we expect. As a scientist, if you are trying to get cells to perform a specific task, there is a possibility that the cells may mutate or not follow normal biological procedure. “The result is that each new generation is slightly different from the previous one” (Locke). Cancer cells are an example of this unpredictability. Cells are not organized, so reacting with something they shouldn't is a big risk. An even greater risk would be if these cells somehow end up in the wild where the product is unpredictable. However, there are some organisms created through synthetic biology that can only survive in the laboratory. “It is also possible that scientists could program a kill switch to activate at some point. (So, for example, a cell designed to kill cancer could be programmed to self-destruct after doing its job)” (Locke), but this is still far in the future and not