Science and Technology Committee
Don’t fail to scale: seizing the opportunity of engineering biology

1st Report of Session 2024-25 - published 14 January 2025 - HL Paper 55

Contents

Summary

Chapter 1: Introduction

Chapter 2: Engineering biology: what and why?

Box 1: Example applications of engineering biology

Figure 1: Price declines for DNA sequencing and synthesis

Chapter 3: Government strategy for engineering biology

Industrial strategy and DSIT’s National Vision for Engineering Biology

Industrial Strategy

Figure 2: UKRI’s Engineering Biology Annual Spend, 2004–2023

National Vision for Engineering Biology: research funding

Skilled staffing for Government and DSIT

Coordinating role of DSIT

Public procurement policy

Chapter 4: Policy to support engineering biology

Skills for engineering biology

Training the next generation of researchers

Training for technicians and technical skills

Visa policy issues

Regulation and standards

Engineering Biology Regulators’ Network and Regulatory Innovation Office

Resourcing and expertise for regulators

Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Act 2023

Standards for engineering biology

Pilot-scale infrastructure

Access to facilities for generating data; intellectual property

Figure 3: Patent applications in engineering biology by region of the UK (Top 20 ITL3 regions (2004–2023))

Funding and mapping existing infrastructure

New lab space and scale-up infrastructure

Chapter 5: Engineering biology for growth

Scaling up companies: economic issues

Public investment

Private investment

Figure 4: EU-US venture capital investment by development stage

Driving adoption across the economy

Adoption by larger companies

Figure 5: Engineering biology firms in the UK by category

Incentives and mandates to create a market for engineering biology

Feedstocks and supply chain implications

Figure 6: Biomass utilisation hierarchy

Chapter 6: Operational challenges for engineering biology

Public acceptability

Biosecurity and risk management

Biosurveillance, testing, vaccine, and therapeutics infrastructure

DNA sequence screening

Managing risks of bio-error or accidental release

Managing risks to biodiversity

Summary of conclusions and recommendations

Appendix 1: List of members and declarations of interest

Appendix 2: List of witnesses

Appendix 3: Call for evidence

Appendix 4: Glossary

Evidence is published online at https://committees.parliament.uk/work/8377/engineering-biology/ and available for inspection at the Parliamentary Archives (020 7219 3074).

Q in footnotes refers to a question in oral evidence.





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