The SynBioBeta 2018 Conference held in San Francisco on Oct. 1-3, 2018 aimed at discussing the latest research progress on synthetic biology and biosecurity issues. Rapid development of synthetic biology plays positive roles in enhancing the development of medical science and related fields in recent years. Meanwhile, new risks also came up, especially the misuse and abuse of the dual-use biotechnology could seriously affect our environments, ecosystems, and the health of animals and human beings. Along with the development of the biotechnology, assessments of the potential risks of dual-use biotechnology are also important, and necessary measures should be taken to prevent these potential risks.
The Center for Health Security of Johns Hopkins University is a world’s leading institution on biosecurity and biosafety research. In order to promote the balanced development of synthetic biology, biosafety and biosecurity, 30 young researchers and graduate students were sponsored by the Center for Health Security of JHU to attend the SynBioBeta 2018 conference, and to discuss the topics relevant to synthetic biology, biosecurity, public health and bio-defense policy. The conference fellowship aims to train these young talents as the next generation biosecurity leaders.
Mr. Diao Jinjin, a Ph.D. candidate from the Laboratory of Synthetic Microbiology at Tianjin University, as the only Chinese representative, was selected to attend this meeting. During the discussion session, he presented the views from China, especially on the topics like "The link between synthetic biology and biosecurity", "how to solve biosecurity problems by using synthetic biology techniques", and "how to respond to and guard against potential threats of new biosecurity".
At this conference, representatives from all over the world shared the concern that the misuse and abuse of the synthetic biology could be a potential biosecurity threat to our society. They also believed that, to better minimize the potential risks of cutting-edging dual-use biotechnology, such as synthetic biology and genome editing, more discussions and researches related to biosafety and biosecurity issues should be taken in the further.
