Synthetic biology is a field of biotechnology that is rapidly growing in various applications, such as in medicine, environmental sustainability, and energy production. However these technologies also have unforeseen risks and applications to humans and the environment.
This open access book presents discussions on risks and mitigation strategies for these technologies including biosecurity, or the potential of synthetic biology technologies and processes to be deliberately misused for nefarious purposes. The book presents strategies to prevent, mitigate, and recover from ‘dual-use concern’ biosecurity challenges that may be raised by individuals, rogue states, or non-state actors. Several key topics are explored including opportunities to develop more coherent and scalable approaches to govern biosecurity from a laboratory perspective up to the international scale and strategies to prevent potential health and environmental hazards posed by deliberate misuse of synthetic biology without stifling innovation. The book brings together the expertise of top scholars in synthetic biology and biotechnology risk assessment, management, and communication to discuss potential biosecurity governing strategies and offer perspectives for collaboration in oversight and future regulatory guidance.
Benjamin D. TRUMP
Dr. Benjamin D. TRUMP is a Research Social Scientist for the US Army Corps of Engineers.
Dr. Trump’s work focuses on decision making and governance of activities under significant
uncertainty, such as emerging and enabling technologies (synthetic biology, nanotechnology)
and developing organizational, infrastructural, social, and informational resilience against
systemic threats to complex interconnected systems. Dr. Trump served as a delegate to assist US
presence in OECD’s Global Science Forum in 2017, and was the President of the Society for
Risk Analysis’ Decision Analysis and Risk Specialty Group in 2018-2019, as well as its
Resilience Analysis Specialty Group in 2019-2020. He was selected as a Fellow of the Emerging
Leaders in Biosecurity Initiative, Class of 2019. In December 2020, Dr. Trump was installed as
the Treasurer of the Society for Risk Analysis. Dr. Trump was also a contributing author ofthe
International Risk Governance Council’s Guidelines for the Governance of Systemic Risks, as
well as their 2nd Volume of the Resource Guide on Resilience. Dr. Trump is also frequently
active with several Advanced Research Workshops for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s
Science for Peace Programme. Co-authored with Dr. Igor Linkov, Dr. Trump’s book The Science
and Practice of Resilience (2019) includes a detailed discussion of the methodological,
philosophical, and governance-related work behind the concept of resilience. His follow-up book
with Dr. Myriam Merad, Expertise Under Scrutiny (2020), addresses the challenges facing
decision makers of how to construct and implement scientifically formed and institutionally valid
decisions within an environment of heightened uncertainty and public criticism. Dr. Trump
received his Ph.D. from the University of Michigan’s School of Public Health, Department of
Health Management and Policy in 2016. He received an M.S. (2012) in Public Policy and
Management and a B.S. in Political Science (2011) from Carnegie Mellon University.
Marie-Valentine FLORIN
Marie-Valentine Florin is the Executive Director of the International Risk Governance Center
(IRGC), at Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL) in Switzerland. IRGC acts at the
interface between science and policy and is particularly active about risks related to emerging
technologies, marked by complexity, uncertainty and ambiguity. She continues to develop the
concepts and guidelines for risk governance established by the IRGC Foundation, with a focus
on emerging and systemic risks, for which the risk and the resilience governance perspectives are
relevant. She convenes multi-stakeholder groups of experts to consider the particular risks and
governance challenges that arise in specific sectors such as digital technologies, climate
engineering, nanotechnology, or synthetic biology. Before joining the IRGC Foundation in 2006,
Ms Florin spent the first part of her career (1984-1999) in an international socio-cultural research
and marketing consulting firm. She graduated from Science Po in Paris (public policy and
management) and then earned post-graduate diplomas in marketing strategy, sustainable
development and environmental diplomacy. She is Society for Risk Analysis Fellow and a
member of the Advisory Board to the Global Risk Report of the World Economic Forum.
Edward J. PERKINS
Dr. Edward J. PERKINS is currently the Acting Army Deputy Chief Scientist and Army Senior
Research Scientist for Environmental Networks and Genetic Toxicology with the Army Corps of
Engineers. His work focuses on using genetics and biotechnology to assess chemical hazards
and develop novel applications to support Army activities including new materials andsynthetic
biology. Dr. Perkins provides guidance for the Army and Department of Defense (DoD) on basic
and applied research programs, in addition to consulting on issues of national and international
importance for the Army Corps of Engineers, Department of Defense, the United States
Environmental Protection Agency, and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and
Development. He has published widely on genetics, toxicology and novel approaches for risk
assessment, including 4 books and over 150 peer reviewed manuscripts and book chapters. Dr.
Perkins has served many organizations as an expert panelist and has been a co-organizer for
multiple national and international workshops and conferences. Dr Perkins received his Ph.D. in
Genetics and Cell Biology from Washington State University in 1987 and a B.A. in Genetics
from University of Illinois in 1983. He completed his postdoctoral training in genetics at the
Universityof Washington and Washington State University.
Igor LINKOV
Dr. Igor LINKOV is the Risk and Decision Science Focus Area Lead with the US Army
Engineer Research and Development Center, and Adjunct Professor with Carnegie Mellon
University. Dr. Linkov has managed multiple risk and resilience assessments and management
projects in many application domains, including emerging materials and technologies,
cybersecurity, transportation, supply chain, homeland security and defense, and critical
infrastructure. He was part of several Interagency Committees and Working Groups tasked with
developing risk and resilience metrics and management approaches, including the US National
Nanotechnology Initiative. Dr. Linkov has organized more than thirty national and international
conferences and continuing education workshops, including NATO workshops on
Nanotechnology in Portugal (2009), Climate Change in Iceland (2010, 2012),Resilience in
Portugal (2016), Estonia (2018) and Finland (2019), as well as Chaired Program Committee for
2015 and 2019 World Congresses on Risk in Singapore and Cape Town. He has published
widely on environmental policy, environmental modeling, and risk analysis, including twenty
five books and over 400 peer-reviewed papers and book chapters in top journals, like Nature,
Nature Nanotechnology, Nature Climate Change, among others. He has served on many review
and advisory panels for DOD, DHS, FDA, EPA, NSF, EU and other US and international
agencies. Dr. Linkov is Society for Risk Analysis Fellow and recipient of 2005 Chauncey Starr
Award for exceptional contribution to Risk Analysis, 2014 Outstanding Practitioner Award as
well as 2019 Distinguished Educator Award. He is Elected Fellow with the American
Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). Dr. Linkov has a B.S. and M.Sc. in
Physics and Mathematics (Polytechnic Institute) and a Ph.D. in Environmental, Occupational and
Radiation Health (University of Pittsburgh). He completed his postdoctoral training in Risk
Assessment at Harvard University.
