Legos are wonderful toys because snapping just a few little pieces together can, with a little imagination, turn simple bricks into almost anything. It's a powerful analogy for synthetic biology, where not only do Legos provide us with the idea that common biological parts can be easily snapped together to create something completely new and amazing, the analogy gives us a license to play with biology
(from Oscillator)
I remember how my little brother loved playing with his Legos. He'd make the most amazing spaceships and robots with them and had whole tubs of them. But woe be unto the unwary person who walked into the playroom while it was dark, because a minefield of them would be the most painful thing one could step on.
This is a dangerous analogy for synthetic biology because it inaccurately frames it as a simple, passive toy rather than as a pursuit that could easily ambush the unwary. I foresee some unfortunately consequences down the road resulting from scientists' complacency on this issue.
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