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  • Side Events (2627)

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Aichi Targets

Date

Side Event

Synthetic Biology: Ecological Implications and the Impact of the Nagoya Protocol

Organizer
Woodrow Wilson Center

Date and Time
13 October 2014 18:15 - 19:45

Meeting
Twelfth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity

The Nagoya Protocol (NP) will enter into force on October 12, 2014. How synthetic biology will be interpreted under the NP and whether the CBD will treat synthetic biology separate from current protocols like the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture is an open question. New analysis from the Synthetic Biology Project at the Wilson Center looks at how issues might be dealt with under both treaties and how the protocols may impact synthetic biology research. A separate project conducted by the Wilson Center and Massachusetts Institute of Technology convened a series of workshops to identify gaps in knowledge on the ecological effects of synthetic biology, to define a research agenda to improve the scientific and technical understandings of these ecological effects, and to provide input on research funding priorities. A consensus developed that establishing and sustaining multidisciplinary research groups would be needed to address the following priority research areas: comparators; phenotypic characterization; fitness, genetic stability, and lateral gene transfer; control of organismal traits; monitoring and surveillance; modeling; and standardization of methods and data. In addition a concomitant assessment of economic and social implications of applications would be necessary to provide a foundation for assessing ecological implications. Join legal experts, scientists, and others involved in synthetic biology research in a discussion on the ecological implications of synthetic biology and how the CBD, NP and other international treaties may interact with one another and impact synthetic biology research.