Policy Position Papers

The Genomic Revolution and Sustainable Management of Infectious Plant Disease: Aligning Policies with Objectives

Ian Crute, Ph.D., CBE Chief Scientist, Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board, Kenilworth, United Kingdom
Every year, persistent infectious agents and invertebrate pests cause multibillion dollar losses of crop yield and quality, as well as substantial eco...

Governance of Synthetic Biology

Dr. Robert Friedman
Chief Operating Officer and Professor, J. Craig Venter Institute, United States Summary Synthetic biology is … biotechnology. From a polic...

Do-It-Yourself Biology: Reality and the Path Toward Innovation

Dr. Todd Kuiken
Senior Research Associate, Science and Technology Innovation Program, Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, United States Summary Th...

Policy Innovation in Synthetic Biology Governance

Dr. Jennifer Kuzma and Ms. Leili Fatehi
Humphrey School of Public Affairs, University of Minnesota, United States Summary Governance for synthetic biology (SB) is a topic of current po...

Safeguarding the Genetic Firewall with Xenobiology

Dr. Markus Schmidt
Founder, Biofaction KG, Austria Summary While progress is being made in synthetic biology to make biology easier to engineer, the safety regula...

The Challenge To Meet Global Need For Protein Sources For Animal Production

Prof. Eliot Herman
Professor, School of Plant Sciences, University of Arizona, United States Summary Increasing prosperity in populous countries has accelerated an...

The Challenges of Deploying Synthetic Biology Technologies in Developing Countries

Dr. Maria Mercedes Roca
Associate Professor of Biotechnology, Zamorano University, Honduras Summary The planet faces a “perfect storm,” caused in large part by a gr...

Renovating Governance Strategies for Synthetic Biology and Other 'Dual-Use' Technologies

Dr. Amy Smithson, Senior Fellow, James Martin
Center for Nonproliferation Studies, Monterey Institute of International Studies, United States Summary The life sciences offer tremendous socie...

Synthetic Biology — Do We Need New Regulatory Systems?

Prof. Paul Freemont
Co-director, Centre for Synthetic Biology and Innovation, Imperial College London, United Kingdom Summary Synthetic biology (SB) is a new interd...

Genomic Sciences for Agriculture, Food, and Nutrition

Roger N. Beachy, Ph.D. Professor of Biology, Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, United States Executive Director, Global Institute for Fo...
Genomic Sciences for Agriculture, Food, and Nutrition From their inception, genomic sciences have been applied to plants, animals, and microbes use...