A Declaration for Equitable Biosecurity: iGEMers Champion Global Biosecurity at the Munich Security Conference 2025
The 61st Munich Security Conference (MSC) marked a historic moment for global biosecurity, as emerging leaders from the Global South convened to address today’s most pressing challenge: Biological threats. Among these leaders were iGEMers, who played a pivotal role in shaping the Biosecurity Rising Leaders’ Munich Security Conference Declaration.
This declaration calls for urgent action to embed biosafety and biosecurity into the global life sciences ecosystem, ensuring that advances in biotechnology benefit all humanity equitably and securely.
Co-convened by the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI), the Brown Pandemic Center, and the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI), in partnership with Foreign Policy Magazine, this 61st MSC session centered on accelerating the 100 Days Mission (100DM). This mission aims to develop vaccines, diagnostics and therapeutics within 100 days of a pandemic threat. The declaration emphasizes that achieving this goal requires more than speed, it demands a commitment to minimizing risks posed by deliberate, accidental, and natural biological threats through robust biosafety and biosecurity frameworks.
iGEMers Yuhan Bao, Yorgo El Moubayed, Jose Garza-Martinez, Kirsten Angeles and Shrestha Rath can be seen in this group photo taken at the Munich Security Conference. (Photo by Mary Goldau, Foreign Policy Magazine.)
The declaration outlines two core objectives:
Drive stronger global biosecurity outcomes by promoting new opportunities for Global South leaders to actively shape agenda-setting and policy-making, moving beyond mere representation to meaningful influence.
Advance biosecurity measures around the 100DM through dedicated investment, development, alignment with international standards, and integration of biosecurity as a core component of emerging technologies.
iGEMers at the Forefront of Responsible Research and Innovation:
The iGEM community leverages powerful tools to tackle global challenges. Innovation for iGEMers extends far beyond the lab. The iGEM Responsibility Program trains and encourages teams to anticipate societal impacts, assess biosafety and biosecurity risks, address dual-use concerns and engage stakeholders, thereby cultivating a culture of responsibility through risk management, education and community leadership. It empowers thousands of scientists in both the Global North and South to ensure they are part of the solution to accelerate pandemic preparedness, reducing biosecurity vulnerabilities and shaping related global policies.
“Building a better future with biology means that scientists have to step outside the lab, engage with the broader global conversation, and thoughtfully consider how to manage risks while striving for positive impact. iGEM is one of the few places where scientists are supported and encouraged to tackle these larger issues related to responsible innovation.”
- Christopher Isaac (Canada), Director of the Responsibility Program at iGEM.
At the Munich Security Conference, iGEMers exemplified how this training translates into global leadership. Their contributions bridged technical expertise and ethical governance, underscoring why synthetic biology’s promise depends on inclusivity and foresight.
Yuhan Bao (from China), iGEM Liaison Officer and Human Practices Program Coordinator, highlighted the importance of integrating biosecurity and other ethical assessments into the innovation process this way:
“iGEM exemplifies how we can integrate biosecurity and ethical considerations into the research and innovation of emerging technologies from the very beginning. This key lesson will be even more crucial in the age of AI and biotechnology.”
Yorgo El Moubayed (from Lebanon), iGEM Program Coordinator and a biosafety consultant, emphasized inclusive empowerment:
“At iGEM we believe that emerging technologies are more than scientific disciplines, they’re a responsibility. By supporting your local scientific community, such as iGEM, you are investing in the next generation of innovators who will shape the future of global biosecurity and pandemic preparedness. We’re building pathways for leadership, innovation, and systemic change in biosecurity and global health governance.”
Jose Garza-Martinez (from Mexico), Researcher and Lecturer at Tecnologico de Monterrey, connected biotechnology to security this way:
“At the Munich Security Conference, we recognize the stakes: biotechnology has enormous potential, but without responsible innovation and strong biosecurity, the threats are equally significant. Security must drive innovation.”
Biosecurity researcher Kirsten Angeles (from the Philippines) called for concrete action:
“Conversations alone don’t stop pandemics. We need policies that embed biosecurity into tech development and elevate Global South leadership, not just for representation, but because our collective safety depends on it.”
The Munich Declaration is a call for intergenerational and international collaboration. As AI accelerates biological research and climate change heightens pandemic risks, the principles of Responsible Research and Innovation are more critical than ever. iGEMers, equipped with technical expertise and a commitment to ethics, are uniquely positioned to drive this vision.
For iGEM, this aligns perfectly with empowering local people to solve local problems all around the world, and to create a safe and responsible future using synthetic biology.
As Kirsten Angeles reminds us, “Meaningful leadership across regions is critical to keeping us all safer.” The Munich Security Conference was not just a dialogue, it was, in her words, a call to action that “iGEMers, as always, are answering!”
Do you want to participate in the biggest annual synthetic biology competition and help build safe and responsible solutions for the planet? Register Here for the 2025 iGEM Competition!
Learn more about iGEM’s efforts to help create a safe and responsible future, and how you can get involved in these efforts on the iGEM Responsibility Program website..
