This position paper is the joint result of discussions about the social significance of synthetic cell developments between the fourteen members of the Future Panel over a period of two years. Responsibility for the content of the document rests with the Future Panel. The paper, however, does not necessarily reflect the policies or positions of the individual contributors, or the organizations with which they are affiliated. The Future Panel on Synthetic Life was organised by the Rathenau Instituut in collaboration with Radboud University, as part of the BaSyC research programme (Building a Synthetic Cell), which is aimed at creating an autonomous, self-reproducing synthetic cell with a bottom-up approach, that is, through integration of molecular building blocks. BaSyC is financed by a Gravitation grant from the Dutch Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, in cooperation with the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research (NWO), and by the participating research institutions. This document is published by the Rathenau Instituut. The findings, interpretations and conclusions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect the policies or positions of the Rathenau Instituut and Radboud University.