This blog is where we share stories, announcements, and insights from around the iGEM community.
All by Piers Millett
The future of synthetic biology has been debated among diplomats and academics, in government boardrooms and conference center hallways and, over the past few years, in countless zoom webinars. This year, iGEM is offering a new place for these discussions: the Responsibility Conference on the margins of the 2022 Grand Jamboree.
Animals are used in research for many different purposes, including as models for the human body and as test subjects for food or medicine intended for animals. Unfortunately, one of the most common reasons that teams are disqualified from the iGEM Competition is for violations of our Animal Use Policy. The policy requires that teams get approval from the Safety & Security Committee before beginning experiments involving animals or animal samples.
There is nothing new about information (info) hazards. We are all familiar with the national security implications of information. Widespread knowledge of certain information can change our risk environment. For example, we keep the precise schedule of our leaders out of the public domain to make it harder for anyone planning them harm to be able to act on it. It is the knowledge of where they will be, when, and what steps we are talking to protect them that poses an information hazard.
At iGEM, we don’t see safety and security as just a set of rules to follow or a list of dangers to avoid. Rather, we think you can’t know whether you’re engineering biology to be good for the world if you haven’t thought about engineering it to be safe and secure. Who is supposed to think about it? We expect everyone in our community, especially teams themselves, to take responsibility for identifying and managing risks from iGEM projects.
Inside iGEM we have a strict Do Not Release policy that keeps our projects inside the lab. If these projects are ever going to be part of real-world solutions then – sooner or later – they will need to work outside of the lab. In 2021, we are substantially increasing the time and effort we devote to considering how to do that safely, securely, and responsibly.
All synthetic biology and modern biotechnology come with some potential to cause harm. Most of the time, especially for those still studying, these risks are managed by someone else.
The iGEM competition should be a challenging, fun, and rewarding experience. But like all science and engineering, every iGEM project has some potential to cause harm. And so iGEM has a number of policies in place, as well as dedicated committees, to help teams do the best science and engineering possible – maximizing benefits for the world while at the same time minimizing any chance of harm.
We know that many teams this year will want to work on COVID-19, and we believe you have much to contribute. In this exceptional year, we want you to be able to do the most important science and engineering possible … AND … we want to make sure you can do that safely and securely.
