Governing Risks Associated with Next Generation Biological Engineering Applications

The field of biological engineering is in the midst of a period of unusually rapid change, driven by the convergence of advanced gene editing methods, improved design tools and integrated data sets. The talk will describe an array of current and emerging applications in agriculture, industry, medicine and environment, then discuss associated environmental, safety and security effects. Applications will include modifications of fish and livestock, synthesis of fuels, flavors and drugs, SCGT, HGT and xenotransplantation and gene drives. Approaches to risk governance will include nonbinding guidelines, national regulations and international conventions, with emphasis on the need for adaptive approaches under conditions of uncertainty and controversy.

The talk will be introduced by Prof. Gisou van der Goot, Dean of the School of Life Sciences.

Prof. Kenneth Oye is Director of the MIT Program on Emerging Technologies (PoET) with a joint appointment as  Professor of Political Science and Data Systems and Society. His research seeks to accentuate benefits and mitigate risks of advanced biotechnologies, with publications on synthetic biology in Science and Nature and on pharmaceuticals policy in Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics. He is a faculty affiliate of the Synthetic Biology Center, the Center for Biomedical Innovation and the Internet Policy Research Initiative, chairs the biosafety committees for iGEM and the Broad Institute Foundry, and has served as an invited expert to the UN BWC, WHO, PCAST and NRC. Before joining the MIT faculty, he taught at Harvard University, the University of California, Princeton University and Swarthmore College. He holds a BA in Economics and Political Science with Highest Honors from Swarthmore College and a Ph.D in Political Science with the Chase Dissertation Prize from Harvard University. He has been associated with the IRGC Foundation since 2006.