Event roundup: engineering biology – unlocking opportunities for UK business

Engineering biology, in which engineering principles are applied to biological systems, is a fast-moving field with transformative potential, leading to increasing opportunities for UK businesses of all sizes and industries. Companies of all sizes are already solving some of the UK’s most significant challenges, with applications across sectors including energy, environment, food, health, transport, defence and manufacturing.

This webinar explored how UK businesses can unlock opportunities in engineering biology, the current UK landscape, and the key enablers that will drive adoption.

Speakers:

Professor Joyce Tait – Director, Innogen Institute, The University of Edinburgh

Jeffrey Anthony – Engineering Biology Partnerships Lead, National Physical Laboratory (NPL)

You can watch the full recording here, or read our summary of the key insights below:

Please note that the below is a summary of the event, and readers are encouraged to watch the webinar to understand the full details of the discussion.

Overview of key themes

Maria Mackay gave an overview of Innovate UK Business Connects engineering biology activity, and where this technology sits in the government lens:

Definition: UKRI define engineering biology as the designing, scaling, commercialisation of biology-derived products and services, using the synthetic biology tools to create next generation of sustainable, high-performing solutions.

Innovate UK Business Connect created the Engineering Biology Network to drive the development of a joined up UK engineering biology ecosystem ensuing synthetic biology tools, technologies and process can be developed and adopted by industry.

Government priorities and Engineering Biology:

The UK has the following strengths to support with the commercialisation of engineering biology:

Joyce Tait highlighted the regulatory barriers faced by innovators in the engineering biology space:

It is often challenging to encourage regulators to adapt existing frameworks to the needs of emerging technologies. Regulatory systems must evolve to ensure that new products can meet appropriate standards ensuring they are safe, high quality, and developed in line with ethical principles whilst supporting innovation.

Example: GM tomatoes are not available across countries such as Canada and Australia, but not on the UK market as the UK the regulatory frameworks to allow companies to commercialise these kind of products. This also applies to GM crops, protein rich food and new vaccines and drugs.

Jeff Anthony gave an overview of NPL’s work in engineering biology

NPL recognises the breadth of opportunity, scientific disciplines, and capabilities that must come together to realise the full potential of engineering biology and play a key role in establishing and maintaining the relevant measurements and standards needed to enable engineering biology to scale effectively.

In engineering biology, the cell becomes the factory, and NPL applies its measurement expertise to bring precision and reproducibility to this complexity, embedding measurement into the design–build–test–learn cycle.

The outputs of NPLs work in this space includes best practice guides, validated analytical methods, advanced measurement and control systems, reference materials, and standards designed to enable engineering biology to scale.

Technology and Innovation programme activities

techUK bring members, industry stakeholders, and UK Government together to champion emerging technologies as an integral part of the UK economy. We help to create an environment where innovation can flourish, helping our members to build relationships, showcase their technology, and grow their business. Visit the programme page here.