David Gillum, President-Elect of ABSA International
Arizona State University
April 8, 2019

“A scientist discovers that which exists; an engineer creates that which never was.” –Theodore von Karmen

“It’s never too late – in fiction or in life – to revise.” –Nancy Thayer

During the past 5 years, I have had the distinct pleasure of attending four iGEM Jamborees in Massachusetts. For those of you who do not know, iGEM is the International Genetically Engineered Machines Competition, an organization that holds the largest gathering of synthetic biologists in the world once a year in Boston and has many regional events that are held throughout the year at different locations around the globe. The competition is bright, colorful, energetic, extremely fun, and filled with thousands of high school and college students and members of community biotech and do-it-yourself (DIY) labs participating each year. The opening and closing receptions have videos from teams beaming on a theater-sized screen, often with rock music pouring out of the auditorium. The vibe is pure enthusiasm and that these kids can do anything. For reference, in 2018 there were nearly 6,000 students making up 340 teams from 42 countries at the Jamboree—all innovating in the field of synthetic biology.

iGEM also presents a unique opportunity for biosafety and biosecurity professionals. For example, the first time I attended the Jamboree was in 2014. I was invited as a guest to participate in a closed-door safety and security meeting to learn more about the challenges facing the competition. There were representatives from academia, government, and industry contemplating past and potential (future) issues that might arise during the event. The group discussed topics such as animal welfare, environmental releases, fire codes, and shipping and transportation safety rules. These discussions arose over time as the competition grew and the projects became more sophisticated.

Many experts who have attended iGEM have thought about the limitations of regulations to address the novel risks posed by synthetic biology experiments. There is often a lengthy debate before, during, and after the Jamboree about how regulating synthetic biology will continue to be difficult since regulations rarely keep up with advancing technologies. A significant challenge facing iGEM is that because it is an international competition and there are no international rules for synthetic biology, iGEM must develop their own rules to keep everyone safe and to make sure they are fair across countries.

Since 2015, I have served as a judge for the iGEM competition and have been a member of the iGEM Safety and Security Committee. Part of this responsibility is to review each team’s safety forms to determine the risks associated with the experiments. This process is becoming more complex as synthetic biology continues to evolve and there is a growing need for additional biosafety and biosecurity professionals working in the field to participate in events like iGEM. For example, a 2019 research article in Applied Biosafety discusses some of the challenges and unique strategies to help address them.

According to Allied Market Research, the synthetic biology marketplace is growing at a pace of 23% per year to a predicted value of over $38 billion in 2020. Imagine the amount of research that will be taking place that will need qualified, trained safety and security professionals to assess risk. This is also one reason why it is so important for iGEM teams to have open and frequent communication with their institution’s safety and security experts. Of equal importance is for biosafety and biosecurity professionals to reach out and determine if their institution has an iGEM team, in addition to those who might be performing synthetic biology at their institution.

Another big challenge (and opportunity) is how synthetic biology is governed in different countries. Some countries provide strict oversight over the use of genomic data when a highly pathogenic agent is used, and other countries do not. Some countries regulate any form of recombinant or synthetic nucleic acid molecules, and some do not. Even the United States has peculiar rules for research that only apply when federal dollars are used. This means that if private funds are used, then there is more freedom (i.e., fewer restrictions) to do the research. Some of the synthetic biology experiments being performed in the United States fall into the latter category.

It was during my first Jamboree that I first heard the term “bleeding edge” to describe the status of synthetic biology—since it is so new and evolving so quickly it isn’t just “cutting edge” it is “bleeding edge.” It was also the first time someone said to me, “David, once you dip your toes into the synthetic biology waters, you will be swept out to sea.” I cannot easily express in words how true both of these statements were and are still today.

There is an enormous opportunity for people working in the biosafety and biosecurity fields to help educate members of the synthetic biology community about the risks and hazards posed by their activities. Whether this is being a judge at iGEM, visiting a local DIY biology lab to offer advice, or stopping by a neighbor’s garage down the street to recommend safety improvements—now is an auspicious time for us to impact future generations who see synthetic biology as the number one solution to many of the world’s problems. Fortunately, ABSA International has been proactive in offering a weeklong course for synthetic biologists to learn about the principles and practices of biosafety, providing webinar and presentations about gene drives and genome editing, and publishing relevant synthetic biology articles in Applied Biosafety.

If you look at the iGEM website, you will see the catch phrase “a pioneer in engineering biology.” I believe this is a reality and I encourage all members of the various global biosafety associations, such as ABSA International, AMEXBIO, APBA, CABS, and EBSA, to reach out to your local iGEM teams and DIY biology laboratories to work with them to develop safe and secure work practices. Help them build training curricula, perform safety walkthroughs, provide security recommendations, and be a leader in the field with our partners in synthetic biology. I encourage you to step up, be visible, and take advantage of this opportunity to make the world a better place. And, perhaps when you are meeting with iGEMers, DIYers, and local biotechers, you can convince them to be part of the global biosafety and biosecurity community.

Submitted by:

David Gillum