Coordination Federal Activity Updated July 16, 2012
International Coordination and Dialogue
Ensure ongoing dialogue about emerging technologies continues and expand efforts to collaborate with international governments, the World Health Organization, and other appropriate parties, including international bioethics organizations.
Recommendation
Recognizing that international coordination is essential for safety and security, the government should act to ensure ongoing dialogue about emerging technologies such as synthetic biology. As part of the coordinated approach urged in Recommendation 4, the Executive Office of the President, through the Department of State and other relevant agencies such as the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Homeland Security, should continue and expand efforts to collaborate with international governments, the World Health Organization, and other appropriate parties, including international bioethics organizations, to promote ongoing dialogue about emerging technologies such as synthetic biology as the field progresses.
Activities
Federal
- The National Academy of Science and National Academy of Engineering, working with the Royal Society, Royal Academy of Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences and Chinese Academy of Engineering, hosted a series of three symposia on synthetic biology in 2011 and 2012. The final meeting was held in Washington, DC, in June 2012; earlier meetings were held in Shanghai and London in 2011. The US meeting focused on the “next-generation tools, platforms, and infrastructure necessary for continued progress in synthetic biology, and the associated policy implications.” The China meeting focused on the “scientific and technical challenges” that must be addresses to allow for further development, while the UK meeting focused on reviewing the developments in the field over the last five years, estimating future achievement, and determining the necessary conditions for creating value.
- Executive Office of the President – No activities identified.
- Department of State – No activities identified.
- Department of Health and Human Services – No activities identified.
- Department of Homeland Security – No activities identified.
Non-Federal
- The International Association Synthetic Biology (IASB), based in Germany, was founded by a consortium of biotechnology companies whose products and services are related to synthetic biology. IASB’s main goal is the advancement and development of synthetic biology via international collaboration, both in the field of policymaking and technical implementations to coordinate and harmonize policies and technical foundations. The IASB is also concerned with scientific and economic prospects of synthetic biology, as well as the bioethical and biosecurity questions it raises. It aims to support the creation of an appropriate regulatory environment for synthetic biology in close cooperation with public authorities and international councils.
- In April 2008, IASB held a workshop on Biosecurity and Synthetic Biology in Munich, Germany. More than 30 European and American experts from industry, research groups, and trade associations presented and discussed the requirements for biosecurity in the use and commercial supply of synthetic genes.
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