Code of Ethics

In 2011, DIYbio.org organized two congresses — bringing together individuals and delegates from regional DIYbio groups — to draft an aspirational code of ethics for the movement.

In May 2011, delegates from across Europe (Denmark, England, France, Germany, and Ireland) met at the London School of Economics’ BIOS Centre. In July 2011, a second congress in San Francisco brought together participants from North American regional groups, including ARC (Houston), BioBridge (San Francisco), BioCurious (Mountain View), BOSSLab (Boston), Genspace (Brooklyn), and LA Biohackers (Los Angeles).

Both congresses produced a draft code. Neither has been formally revised since 2011; they’re preserved here as the movement’s founding governance documents, adopt, adapt, and remix your own.

North American Congress (July 2011)

Open Access — Promote citizen science and decentralized access to biotechnology.

Transparency — Emphasize transparency, the sharing of ideas, knowledge and data.

Education — Engage the public about biology, biotechnology and their possibilities.

Safety — Adopt safe practices.

Environment — Respect the environment.

Peaceful Purposes — Biotechnology should only be used for peaceful purposes.

Tinkering — Tinkering with biology leads to insight; insight leads to innovation.

European Congress (May 2011)

Transparency — Emphasize transparency and the sharing of ideas, knowledge, data and results.

Safety — Adopt safe practices.

Open Access — Promote citizen science and decentralized access to biotechnology.

Education — Help educate the public about biotechnology, its benefits and implications.

Modesty — Know you don’t know everything.

Community — Carefully listen to any concerns and questions and respond honestly.

Peaceful Purposes — Biotechnology must only be used for peaceful purposes.

Respect — Respect humans and all living systems.

Responsibility — Recognize the complexity and dynamics of living systems and our responsibility towards them.

Accountability — Remain accountable for your actions and for upholding this code.