Responsive novelty: taking innovation seriously in societal research agendas for synthetic biology

The question of what counts as novel and in what context needs to be systematically investigated in societal research around synthetic biology (SB). This would improve understanding of alternative ways of innovating in response to collective challenges including options for addressing socio-economic inequality as well as and together with technical novelty. Responsiveness to different forms and contexts of novelty might also allow SB to be novel in ways not otherwise considered because of a presumption that it will be developed within established socio-economic systems and models.