Synthesize this: integrating innovation governance and EU regulation of synthetic biology

Abstract Responsible innovation (RI) is an innovation governance framework developed by science and technology studies (STS) that seeks to transform innovation processes. While legal academia has derived valuable insights from STS for regulating technology, it has largely overlooked the implications of developments in research on RI for the law. This article aims to address this gap using European Union governance of synthetic biology (synbio) as a case study. It highlights how the existing regulatory framework struggles to accommodate the diverse issues that synbio raises, and explores hybrid approaches using soft mechanisms to enhance the effectiveness of hard law in governing technology. Considering the ‘governance continuum’ as a whole, the article argues, first, that while such hybrid approaches offer the potential for implementing RI, they are currently limited, and, second, that for RI to transform innovation processes, hard law must also adapt. The article suggests finally that RI itself offers guidance for addressing those two needs.