Policy paper

National vision for engineering biology

Government’s vision is for the UK to have a broad, rich engineering biology ecosystem that can safely develop and commercialise the many opportunities to come from the technology.

From:
Department for Science, Innovation and Technology
Published
5 December 2023
This was published under the 2022 to 2024 Sunak Conservative government

Documents

National vision for engineering biology

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National vision for engineering biology

PDF, 1.35 MB, 54 pages

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National vision for engineering biology technical annex

PDF, 232 KB, 12 pages

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Details

Engineering biology harnesses the capabilities of organisms, process and mechanisms that exist in nature. Government defines engineering biology as the design, scaling and commercialisation of biology-derived products and services that can transform sectors or produce existing products more sustainably. It draws on the tools of synthetic biology to create the next wave of innovation in the bioeconomy.

This vision responds to the engineering biology call for evidence. It:

  • reflects what we heard about the UK’s strengths, weaknesses and opportunities
  • defines government’s collective ambition for engineering biology
  • sets the directions in which government investment, policy and regulatory reform will deliver

Government will focus on 6 priorities:

  1. World-leading R&D
  2. Infrastructure
  3. Talent and skills
  4. Regulations and standards
  5. Take up by the broader economy
  6. Responsible and trustworthy innovation

Updates to this page

Published 5 December 2023

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