The Office of the Chief Scientist has published a new Occasional Paper on Synthetic Biology.

Synthetic biology involves the design and construction of new biological parts, devices, and systems, as well as the re-design of existing, natural biological systems for useful purposes.

With early applications spanning across health care, climate change mitigation, biocontrol, agriculture and manufacturing, the opportunities for Australia are significant; however, so too are the ethical and regulatory considerations.

This paper outlines some of the key concepts, applications, and work currently underway in this space, based on a detailed horizon scanning report by the Australian Council of Learned Academies (ACOLA).

The full occasional paper can be downloaded below.

Synthetic Biology Occasional Paper [PDF]