The Nuts and Bolts of Bioengineered Systems: A Workshop on Standards in Synthetic Biology; Valencia, Spain- March 8-10, 2015

Cornell University, Ithaca NY

Investigators

Abstract

This award "The Nuts and Bolts of Bioengineered Systems: A workshop on Standards in Synthetic Biology" will provide funding for 13 US scientists and engineers to participate in a workshop in March of 2015. Synthetic Biology sits at the intersection of biology and engineering, where practitioners use engineering tools and systems approaches to design novel biological systems, including genetic circuits and whole cells, with which to explore governing principles behind complex biological processes or to develop new functionalities that can be exploited. Over the past ten years, the field has started to see foundational advances in the fundamental understanding of how to engineer biological systems, and the transition of research into applications that address critical problems in sustainability, food, energy, water and health is now emerging. Because of this transition, there is a growing need to address the issues of standardization in synthetic biology to help facilitate the coordination of research among laboratories, as well as to transition laboratory research from the bench to the industrial marketplace. This workshop will address this need by bringing in a broad array of scientific, technical, industry and policy experts on standardization both in the US and in Europe to discuss the current state of standardization and create a prioritized roadmap for research areas that will critically accelerate standards-driven biological engineering. The workshop will contribute to the enhancement and improvement of scientific, engineering and/or educational activities by bringing together a leading group of European Union researchers and US researchers along with funders and policy makers from various member countries and their US counterparts. In addition, this meeting will provide the foundation for international collaborations between researchers in the US and Europe. The meeting conveners will produce a report of the meeting that will be distributed to the participants and sponsoring organizations (NSF and EC) and will be posted for the public on several synthetic biology organization websites. The workshop's organizers will ensure that workshop includes attendees from underrepresented groups in science and technology and attendees who are at early stages of their career.