Summary:
- decisions are complicated, wide-ranging.
- scaling is not easy - petri-dish is easy, reactor or wide deployment is not (like other reactors)
- containment is difficult
- cost-benefit ratio is important and complicated to determine
- while any release is global, GMO regulation differs vastly between countries.
DeLisi, C., et al (2020). The Role of Synthetic Biology in Atmospheric Greenhouse Gas Reduction: Prospects and Challenges. BioDesign Research, 2020, 2020/1016207. DOI: 10.34133/2020/1016207
The one thing that synthetic biology has is that it can grow exponentially. It could rapidly draw down lots of CO₂ or consume lots of methane.
On the other hand, it can go sideways at an exponential rate, too.