This document is a background paper aiming at providing general information and considerations about techniques, applications and safety aspects of Synthetic Biology (SB). It is not a position paper. It should be considered as food for thought to sustain and stimulate further discussion on this topic amongst interested stakeholders. It is important to note that SB is a rapidly evolving field encompassing many different topics. It is therefore worth mentioning that this document does not aim at providing an exhaustive overview of all SB applications and is based on currently available scientific evidence. Its descriptive and analytic parts could be subject to review and change if new important information becomes available.