Tag Archives: Woodrow Wilson Centre

Governance/regulation of synthetic biology

The Synthetic Biology Project folks at the Woodrow Wilson Center have created a Synthetic Biology Scorecard and I think before discussing the scorecard I’ll provide a little background information about synthetic biology and what is being scored.

From the About page on the Synthetic Biology Project website,

Synthetic biology involves making new genetic code, also known as DNA, which does not already exist in nature.

In May 2010, J. Craig Venter announced that he had created the first self-replicating synthetic bacterial cell (my May 21, 2010 post) and this set off some alarm bells. From the Feb. 8, 2012 news item on Physorg.com,

On May 20, 2010, scientists at the J.C. Venter Institute unveiled a bacterial cell controlled by a synthetic genome. That same day, the president asked the Commission [Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues] to undertake “a study of the implications of this scientific milestone . . . [and] consider the potential medical, environmental, security, and other benefits of this field of research, as well as any potential health, security, or other risks.”

Now we get to the scorecard (from the news item),

More than a year has passed since the release of the Commission’s report. What progress has been made? The Scorecard seeks to answer that question: In addition to tracking the progress of various federal and non-federal initiatives, the website encourages broad participation in achieving the goals set forth by the Commission and invites public comment on the recommendations and implementation efforts.

“The Commission’s report was a landmark document and lays out a framework with broad applicability to many emerging technologies, but, like many reports of this type, no mechanisms were put in place to track progress,” David Rejeski, director of the Synthetic Biology Project, said. “Our goal is ensure that this report — and others like it – can drive change.”

The scorecard is here. I’ve linked to the overview which lists all of the recommendations and each one is colour-coded to indicate whether or not there has been activity to implement the recommendation. There are three colour codes, one indicating that no federal activity has taken place, one indicating that federal activity has begun, and one indicating federal activity has been completed. You can click on each recommendation to get more details about federal and non-federal activity.

Locating nano conferences and nano oversight webcast

A new website that lists nanotechnology conferences has opened. I checked out nanoconferences.com yesterday and they have a listing that could take you around the world. It looks like they’ve made a pretty decent start.The database is searchable by date, location, and, most importantly, keyword.

The Woodrow Wilson Center’s Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies has a new webcast scheduled (not the L’Oreal event from June which has yet to be rescheduled). This webcast is called  Nanotechnology Oversight: an Agenda for the New Administration.  David Rejeski and J. Clarence (Terry) Davies, both from the Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies, are the speakers. It will be webcast live July 22, 2008 from 12:30 pm to 1:30  pm (EST). I went to the site that they list,  www.wilsoncenter.org/nano, but wasn’t able to find the event yet. I’ll keep checking.

Nano Oreal, Bonifacho, and Krazy

I received an invitation to a nanotech event “Small is Beautiful” just yesterday for a June 5, 2008 at the Woodrow Wilson Centre in Washington, DC. Luckily they webcast their events so you can tune in 1pm – 2pm EST here. And in case that link doesn’t work, you can try here in the invite and click in the right sidebar under Webcast Live. And, here’s why you might be interested. They’re featuring a representative from L’Oreal, Dr. Francis Quinn, and the Chief Science Officer for the Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies, Dr. Andrew Maynard. Apparently, L’Oreal ranks sixth in nanotech patents in the US. So, the beauty and cosmetics sector has embraced nanotechnology and introduced it into their products. I will be interested to hear about any risk assessments L’Oreal has made for people slathering nanoparticles onto their skin. Maynard should be interesting too. He writes a about risk on a Safenano Community blog here.

On another note, an artist I know, Bratsa Bonifacho, just had a launch event for his latest project, a series of street banners that have been placed along Cambie St. and its eponymous bridge in Vancouver. He was invited to Vancouver City Hall and feted by mayor Sam Sullivan and various city councillors yesterday for the launch. (late breaking…here are some links to articles about Bratsa and his banners…Vancouver Sun and Metro News…despite Metro News, the banners are not about anti-homophobic rallies…Bratsa did a series of paintings about computer viruses and that’s what you can see on the street banners)

Tomorrow I’m off to a press preview of Krazy! The delirious world of Anime + Comics + Video Games + Art at the Vancouver Art Gallery. More about that afterwards.

I was out of commission for a few days. Twisted ankle on Saturday, May 10 and tooth extraction yesterday, May 13. I should be back to normal in the next few days.