SBE-UKRI: Future Organisms: Synthetic Genomics and Responsible Research and Innovation in the UK, the USA and Japan

Lead Research Organisation: University of Edinburgh
Department Name: Sch of Social and Political Science

Abstract

The aim of this project is two-fold: to carry out a social scientific investigation into synthetic genomics and to develop new approaches to responsible research and innovation through this investigation.

Synthetic genomics is an emerging scientific field that makes it possible for scientists to design and build larger stretches of DNA than ever before, at the scale of chromosomes and even whole genomes. It could potentially bring new types of organism into the world. Synthetic genomics is attracting funding and building momentum internationally. However, decisions about the direction of the field are being made by small groups of scientists and engineers. Although some are aware that these decisions deserve broader reflection and scrutiny, the field lacks mechanisms to ensure it incorporates diverse perspectives. We aim to address this problem by conducting the first social scientific analysis of synthetic genomics explicitly designed to open up discussion and debate about the field.

Responsible research and innovation (RRI) is an approach to governing new scientific and technological fields that has gained traction in recent years. However, RRI is currently not well equipped to engage with large-scale, international, collaborative scientific work such as that undertaken in synthetic genomics. When RRI is implemented it often involves an individual social scientist being tasked to 'deliver' RRI for a single scientific research project, limiting the extent to which they can engage with broader governance structures. In contrast, independent social scientific research conducted on emerging science and technology often remains detached from its object of study, offering little opportunity to shape its development. By developing an approach to synthetic genomics that is engaged but autonomous, our project will extend and enrich RRI by offering an alternative model for social scientific engagement with emerging scientific fields.

Our cross-national investigation of synthetic genomics will encompass the United Kingdom, the United States and Japan - three countries that are investing heavily in the field. We will analyse scientific literature and policy documents, and - taking advantage of our geographic distribution - conduct a multi-sited ethnography of the major sites in which synthetic genomics is being developed and interview key actors in our three countries.

Our research is organised into three workstreams: Countries, Creatures and Capacities. The Countries workstream examines national and international policy and funding strategies for synthetic genomics and the narratives and expectations embedded within them. The Creatures workstream explores the ways in which synthetic genomics alters human relationships with other organisms by positioning humans as designers of other species. The Capacities workstream explores the role of social scientists within the field.

We will build on our existing connections with scientists, engineers, policy makers, artists, designers, and other stakeholders to 'open-up' debate about the trajectories and futures of the field by convening a series of experimental workshops. Our final workshop will bring together social scientists from our three countries working in synthetic genomics and related fields to share our experiences, explore new approaches to RRI, and build connections for future work.

Publications

10 25 50
 
Title BioStories: Re-envisioning Relationships with Nature 
Description Creative document produced by Faber Futures and World Economic Forum's Global Future Council on Synthetic Biology, including commentary by Jane Calvert. 
Type Of Art Artefact (including digital) 
Year Produced 2022 
Impact n/a 
URL https://faberfutures.com/projects/bio-stories-2/bio-stories-report-download/
 
Description This award is still ongoing but we want to highlight three research achievements that have arisen from our work so far.

A key objective of the award is to advance the theory of RRI through a study of synthetic genomics. We have addressed this by rethinking RRI in terms of: 1) spaces, 2) multispecies studies, and 3) interdisciplinary collaboration, holding a workshop on each of these topics.

1) Spaces.
We have found it productive to think of RRI in terms of spaces. Our Countries workshop (London, Sept 2023) involved scientists, engineers, social scientists and policy makers who were actively trying to build spaces for responsible innovation in funding policy, research projects and training programmes. During the workshop, we analysed previous attempts to create these spaces, and developed ideas for building them in the future. We received additional funding for this workshop through an Edinburgh-Rice Strategic Collaboration Award, which allowed us to bring in discussion of the history of spaces for the governance of biotechnology (particularly the Asilomar meeting in 1975).

2) Multispecies studies.
We have investigated the ways in which multispecies studies and RRI can inform each other. In our Creatures workshop (Fort Collins, May 2023), artists, designers, synthetic biologists and social scientists experimented with creative ways to consider their response-abilities to other organisms in their research. We are also asking what it would mean to do more-than-human science policy, and Smith co-convened a panel on this topic at the Nordic STS Conference (Oslo, June 2023).

Our interest in multispecies studies is interconnected with our objective to investigate the place of the organism being engineered in synthetic genomics. The US team has developed a tagging system based on the role the organism performs in synthetic genomics (see Hey and Szymanski 2022). The Japanese team is studying the place of Bacillus subtilis in the development of synthetic genomics in Japan. And the UK team has been exploring the significance of the organism in synthetic genomics when the organism is a deeply politicised one: the human.

3) Interdisciplinary collaboration.
We are developing methods for understanding and doing RRI through interdisciplinary collaboration that involve conducting studies with scientists and engineers, rather than studies of or for them. This has resonated broadly with the STS community and we held an open panel 'Studying with: building infrastructures for collaborative work' at the Society for the Social Studies of Science Annual Meeting (Honolulu, Nov 2023) with 18 papers on the topic. We are now developing a subset of these into an edited monograph. This work has contributed directly to our objective to build international capacity for social scientific engagement with synthetic genomics and other emerging fields.

Overall, we have benefited greatly from being able to conduct a substantial and sustained piece of social scientific research together across our three countries. The different contexts in which we have had to apply our thinking on synthetic genomics and RRI have been extremely valuable in allowing us to develop insights into both.
Exploitation Route Our research outcomes are directly relevant to social scientists, policy makers, natural scientists and engineers who are attempting to integrate RRI into their work in ways that extend beyond individual research projects. One of the routes by which we have spread knowledge of our work is by giving talks to diverse academic and non-academic groups (e.g. at conferences and workshops in London, York, Athens, Milan, Vienna, Bonn, New York, Houston and Sydney). Our workshops and events have also enabled us to build and strengthen relationships with synthetic genomics researchers, social scientists and policy makers in and beyond our three countries. These relationships will enable us to work together in expanding the breadth and reach of our research outcomes. Most recently, the project team was able to share some of our findings by contributing to an International Symposium on 'Alternative Approaches to Science? Responding to the call to be open and responsible', organised by Koichi Mikami (Tokyo, March 2024), which was attended by academics, undergraduates, high school students and government officers.
Sectors Agriculture

Food and Drink

Education

Healthcare

Government

Democracy and Justice

Manufacturing

including Industrial Biotechology

Pharmaceuticals and Medical Biotechnology

 
Description From the beginning of the award, we have aimed to have an impact on policy. Our Countries workshop on spaces for RRI (Sept 2023) was hosted by the Nuffield Council on Bioethics in London (an independent policy and research centre). Holding it at this location meant that key policy players based in or near London could attend, including representatives from the UK Department of Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), the Royal Society of Biology (a learned society and professional association), the Wellcome Sanger Institute (a non-profit research institute) as well as the Nuffield Council on Bioethics. This workshop demonstrated that there is a clear desire and need among these groups to think through the implementation of RRI in synthetic genomics/biology, as well as some dissatisfaction with existing infrastructures that can make it difficult to build capacity in RRI. Based on the encouragement of the policy participants at the workshop, the UK project team wrote a coordinated response to the DSIT's Call for Evidence on Engineering Biology. This contribution was quoted in the final report 'National Vision for Engineering Biology' (December 2023), which accompanied the announcement of a £2 billion investment in engineering biology. The report noted how RRI approaches are key to this developing field. Another consequence of our engagement with DSIT was that Rob Smith was invited as a Delegate to the UK Government Engineering Biology Mission to Japan (March 2024) on the basis of his expertise in responsible research and innovation. This involved a bilateral workshop and panel to explore potential collaborations in the area. Smith is also involved in advising several EU funded ERA-NET programmes on operationalising RRI, and has run multiple workshops on this topic. We have also engaged with Japanese policy makers at the Research Institute of Science and Technology for Society (RISTEX), which is part of the Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST), and supports a wide range of R&D projects. Koichi Mikami is a member of the JST RISTEX Genome Ethics Working Group and organised a workshop with them involving the Future Organisms project team (March 2024), which explored the opportunities and challenges of integrating RRI into emerging fields. In the USA, our work has engaged with the private sector and we are in ongoing discussions with companies working in synthetic genomics who are keen to build capacity in RRI. Finally, our academic work on studying with scientists and engineers in interdisciplinary collaborations has significant momentum, resonating with STS researchers globally. We have also seen other academic groups pick up on our suggestion that RRI can be productively rethought in conversation with multispecies studies, expanding on multispecies RRI theory-development in other scientific fields. We aim to build on both these areas in our future outputs, which could lead to new research trajectories within STS.
First Year Of Impact 2023
Sector Education,Government, Democracy and Justice
Impact Types Societal

Policy & public services

 
Description Contribution to DSIT UK Government Consultation on Engineering Biology
Geographic Reach National 
Policy Influence Type Contribution to a national consultation/review
URL https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-vision-for-engineering-biology/national-vision-f...
 
Description ERA Health funding programme
Geographic Reach Europe 
Policy Influence Type Participation in a guidance/advisory committee
 
Description Operationalising Responsible Research & Innovation in ERA4Health
Geographic Reach Europe 
Policy Influence Type Influenced training of practitioners or researchers
Impact As a result of this policy workshop, science administrators at the Norwegian Research Council, Agency of Health Research in the Netherlands (ZonMW) and several other national funding agencies now have better knowledge about how to operationalise RRI in their practice.
URL https://era4health.eu/responsible-research-and-innovation-rri/
 
Description Operationalising Responsible Research and Innovation in European ERA-NET Funding
Geographic Reach Europe 
Policy Influence Type Influenced training of practitioners or researchers
Impact As a result of this work, science administrators have significantly enhanced their ability to operationalise governance of research and innovation in their programmes.
URL https://www.m-era.net/other-joint-activities/responsible-research-and-innovation
 
Description Science Communication Training Program
Geographic Reach Local/Municipal/Regional 
Policy Influence Type Influenced training of practitioners or researchers
 
Description BBSRC Transition Award Flexible Funding: Exploring methods of RRI that intervene in places and spaces of scientific practice
Amount £10,000 (GBP)
Organisation University of Edinburgh 
Sector Academic/University
Country United Kingdom
Start 02/2023 
End 05/2023
 
Description BBSRC Transition Award Flexible Funding: Time pressures in academic-industry collaborations in mammalian engineering biology
Amount £9,918 (GBP)
Organisation University of Edinburgh 
Sector Academic/University
Country United Kingdom
Start 08/2023 
End 01/2024
 
Description Responsible Innovation with Conscience and Agility Program of Research Institute of Science and Technology for Society (RISTEX)
Amount ¥5,000,000 (JPY)
Organisation Japan Science And Technology Agency 
Sector Academic/University
Country Japan
Start 09/2021 
End 03/2025
 
Description Creatures Workshop 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Other audiences
Results and Impact Erika Szymanski at Colorado State University organised a two-day workshop involving synthetic biologists, social science and humanities researchers, artists, and relevant practitioners to discuss and develop the concept of response-able research.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2023
 
Description Delegate of UK DSIT Engineering Biology Mission to Japan 
Form Of Engagement Activity A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Policymakers/politicians
Results and Impact A UK Government Mission to Japan to explore and develop collaborations on the topic of engineering biology. Smith participated as an expert in responsible research and innovation. A bilateral workshop and panel was held to explore potential collaborations in the area.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2024
 
Description International Symposium 'Alternative Approaches to Science? Responding to the call to be open and responsible' 
Form Of Engagement Activity A talk or presentation
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Professional Practitioners
Results and Impact Koichi Mikami organized an international symposium to explore how the concepts of 'responsible research and innovation' and 'open science' could be bridged. Jane Calvert, Erika Szymanski and Rob Smith all talked at the symposium along with other experts. About 60 local scientists, social scientists and government officers as well as high school and undergraduate students attended. Koichi Mikami received several emails from the attendees after the event saying they would consider how these concepts could influence their future work.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2024
 
Description JST RISTEX Genome Ethics Working Group Workshop 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Policymakers/politicians
Results and Impact Workshop held at JST RISTEX in collaboration with members of their Genome Ethics Working Group. Participants shared respective experiences of conducting Science & Technology Studies research in the field of synthetic genomics / synthetic biology, policy challenges and implications and discussed possible collaborations for the future.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2024
 
Description Workshop on Spaces for Responsible Innovation in Synthetic Biology 
Form Of Engagement Activity Participation in an activity, workshop or similar
Part Of Official Scheme? No
Geographic Reach International
Primary Audience Policymakers/politicians
Results and Impact Rob Smith and Jane Calvert organised a Workshop on 'Spaces for Responsible Innovation in Synthetic Biology' in London, hosted by the Nuffield Council on Bioethics. Attendees included representatives of the UK Department of Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), the Royal Society of Biology, UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) and the Wellcome Sanger Institute, the Nuffield Council on Bioethics as well as academics from the UK, the USA and Japan.
Year(s) Of Engagement Activity 2023