Synbio
The rapid progress in synthetic biology (SynBio) and the associated potential for misuse pose new challenges for biological arms control. Particularly relevent to this is the developments of converging enabling technologies that, in conjunction with SynBio, simplify the production and design of pathogens that could potentially used as biological weapons or molecular biological agents. This presents new biosecurity challenges for the interests of the rapidly growing SynBio industry, which promises to find technological solutions to combat diseases or climate change.
As with other rapidly evolving technologies, risk management and national as well as international regulations may not have kept pace. This must be reviewed and normative and legal proposals must be developed on how regulatory structures should be adapted to the highly dynamic and complex technological developments.
The project aims to develop a generally applicable and beneficial methodology for the first time in an interdisciplinary cooperation between the University of Hamburg (ZNF) and the University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences Vienna (ISR). The misuse potential of SynBio as an emerging and possibly disruptive, cutting-edge technology in conjunction with other converging new technologies is subject to prospective technology assessment. In this context, the resulting implications for governance are also examined. The characterization of dual-use potential is relevant here, as is the question of whether and how SynBio is usedfor the development of biological weapons in combination with novel technologies. In the face of this, the goal is to expose existing national and international regulatory weaknesses and develop a proposal for Germany on how the National Research Strategy Bioeconomy 2030 could be adapted,
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