Overview

From Jay Keasling & Drew Endy:
Over the past few years, synthetic biologists have thought hard about how to improve biosafety and biosecurity. Most of these ideas would require new regulations, laws, or treaties. Some, however, can be implemented at the community level. Day 3 of SB2.0 conference will give us a chance to debate, vote and launch community initiatives. If we can take meaningful action on biosafety and biosecurity, that will be time well spent.

Possible Resolutions

From Jay Keasling & Drew Endy:
For the past three months, UC Berkeley's Goldman School of Public Policy has worked to find proposals (a) that can be implemented by community vote, (b) have broad support among the more than two dozen synthetic biologists interviewed for the Berkeley project, and (c) can potentially reduce the already-small risks posed by our discipline. The Berkeley group has identified six possible interventions which they believe fit these criteria. You can download the paper here (will be periodically updated to reflect community input).

Resolutions discussion

Community Input

There are a variety of ways to contribute to discussion of these and other possible resolutions.

• Berkeley Town Hall Meeting. (April 18th, please see the webcast)
• MIT Town Hall Meeting. (April 21st, webcast)
• EU-USA Synthetic Biology Workshop. The organizers have offered to discuss the proposals as part of their previously scheduled workshop in Warren, Virginia (US) on April 23.
• We have established a listserv for interested parties. You can join by sending an e-mail to starrt AT berkeley DOT edu.
• Input is also welcome on OpenWetWare here.

Other Discussions

Synthetic Society Discussions on Biological Risks and Security