Workshop on biosecurity

On April 3, 2008, the IASB will organize a workshop on biosecurity in the field of synthetic biology.

Current progress in synthetic biology has led to vastly increased capabilities in the synthesis of biomolecules, especially genes and complex genetic elements. In addition to the significant benefits to the biotech and life sciences industry, this powerful technology also creates new biosecurity risks. Since the sequences of some very potent toxins and many genomes of fatal pathogens are publicly available via online databases, currently malicious attackers are deterred only by the complexity of physically creating such sequences and applying them in the field. This hurdle is reduced more and more by the progress of the technology.

The International Association of Synthetic Biology (IASB) is comprised of leading European enterprises in the field of synthetic biology. With this workshop, the IASB members want to address current questions of biosecurity in synthetic biology. The aim is to promote the forming of collaborations and networks working on tangible technical solutions.

A large number of conferences and publications has dealt with questions of policy within synthetic biology, especially in the USA. This workshop is intended to complement these efforts by putting a strong focus on technical solutions. The technical basis of increased biosecurity, especially a systematic screening of incoming synthesis orders against a canonical database, is still very sketchy. Major questions, such as the selection of sequences for the reference database, how to keep the database up-to-date, how to categorize risk-associated sequences, are still unanswered.

The workshop will try to address these questions, and will consist of three parts. The first part will discuss current and future biosecurity policies, and will compare the state of policy making in the US and Europe. The second part will focus on technical solutions and will encourage collaboration between individual groups already working on implementations. The third part will deal with funding of the necessary work and with questions of long-term goals and the sustainability of current initiatives.

One important aspect of the workshop is the fostering of international collaboration, both in the field of policy making and technical implementations. Since synthetic biology and its fields of applications - the biotech and life sciences industries - are strongly globalized, we believe that a strong effort is necessary to coordinate and harmonize policies and technical foundations.