Future worldbuilding with synthetic biology: A case study in interdisciplinary scenario visualization

Abstract

This article presents and examines the implications of a multidisciplinary case study using worldbuilding and narrative scenario visualization. The case study focuses on the research area of synthetic biology, more specifically, the production of industrially relevant plant metabolites in microalgae. The approach taken addresses what we describe as the ‘Promises Paradox’ in scientific research, whereby scientists are at once required to implicitly imagine world-shaping implications for their research, while remaining significantly constrained with regard to explicitly envisioning the diverse tones and textures such worlds might take once scientific innovations become part of everyday life. The article contributes to existing research in the fields of design futuring, design fiction, speculative design and scenario-based planning and design. Focus is given to analyzing the development of character, narrative and visualization in the creative process and how these aspects of worldbuilding both afford opportunities and possess limitations with regard to framing plausible futures that might engage both expert and non-expert audiences.