Pathways to Linking Science and Policy in the Field of Global Risk

One of our current aims at the Centre for the Study of Existential Risk (CSER) is to understand the norms, values and approaches that bridge global risk with policy engagement. More specifically, to strengthen our capabilities in translation and application of our research into practical policy recommendations and proposals. Therefore, we have developed this report to help guide and enhance the policy engagement efforts of researchers at CSER and other global risk research institutions. Based on insights from academic experience, in this report readers will find: insights into academic perspectives on policy engagement; definitions of terminology; study cases, topics in demand; institutions interested in global catastrophic risks; and skills; as well as a checklist and step-by-step guidance that may inspire and help you to lead your research activities towards more impactful policy engagements. Through six cases of engagement with policy, CSER has identified a number of skills that are highly relevant to successful policy engagement: project management skills, communication skills, networking and interpersonal skills, expertise in specialist topics and familiarity with the policy research landscape, knowledge of parliamentary language and processes, knowledge of the process for drafting bills and legislation and knowledge of policy-making and how to frame policy interventions in a palatable way. Policy engagement can help you gain new skills, increase your network, and enhance the reputation of your institution and yourself. It can lead to research and funding opportunities, and enhance your future career options. This work is part of our project A Science of Global Risk which is focused on safeguarding humanity’s long-term future by being rigorous and creative; open to diverse groups; and capable of producing concrete proposals for risk management that can be implemented within the existing policy landscape

Synthetic Biology Policy Recommendations

This submission of evidence aims to address some aspects of the following questions: - What are the key biological security opportunities, challenges, threats and vulnerabilities facing the UK (now and in 5 years)? - How should the government prioritise its efforts to identify and respond to these

Empowering Do-it-yourself Biology by Doing-it-together: Collective Responsibility in Maximizing Benefit and Mitigating Risk

Rapid technological advances in genome editing and synthetic biology have created an unprecedented ability for science to be conducted outside traditional research institutions. This open science movement, known as do-it-yourself biology (DIY Bio) has gained significant traction and has grown exponentially in the last decade with over 160 active groups and thousands of DIY Biologists from a range of backgrounds worldwide. As a result, the movement has become a platform for biotechnology entrepreneurship and an instrument for discovery-based science education and outreach (Kolodziejczyk 2017; Landrain et al. 2013). The COVID-19 pandemic has also further emphasised the potential positive impact that the DIY Bio community can bring towards enhancing the innovative capacity of the larger scientific enterprise. As DIY biologists and scientists from traditional institutions share experimental data and designs on various platforms including online forums in response to the current pandemic, it is becoming evident that the scientific ecosystem has much to gain by being more inclusive. However, the inherent fast-evolving, open and relatively unregulated nature of DIY Bio creates substantial safety and security concerns. Here, we discuss the benefits and risks of DIY Bio and how multiple stakeholders, especially the government and academia, might work together with the DIY Bio community to co-develop global and locally contextualized policies, regulatory frameworks and action plans for maximum benefit and minimum risk.The Global Young Academy receives its core funding from the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research, the GYA DIY Biology Working Group’s activities have been co-funded by the Volkswagen Foundation

Omics in Society

This report was produced by the Foresight, Behavioural Insights & Design for Policy Unit of Joint Research Centre (JRC) under the initiative towards enhanced research in the area of “Omics in Society with a focus on Genomics”. The work presented tries to address the main research areas in line with current European Commission (EC) policy priorities for foresight and citizen engagement planning. Through an extensive review of literature, corporate and media discourses, as well as do-it-yourself bio movement’s Internet sites, several thematic narratives have been identified. These narratives come from different actors telling about on-going promises, interests, expectations and concerns across the human genomics field. The present report maps also key players working in the human genomics field around the world, identifying the most expressive or emblematic companies. We observe co-existing narratives across the analysed companies’ discourses in particular in relation to the claims and promises associated to the technological advances in human genomics. Attractive narratives are offered to citizens, appealing to personal needs and interests (e.g. ancestry, genetic make-up, or genetic risks), and often overlooking ethical considerations. The literature and other sources covered in the report suggest that the human genomics field appears to be strongly consolidated in North America, with a high number of institutes and companies operating in the field. The human genomics field also appears strongly connected to big data, artificial intelligence (A.I.) and blockchain technologies debates. This has particularly gained momentum due to the involvement of tech giants such as Google, Amazon and Microsoft. We have identified relevant EU legislation and institutions in the genomics field and evidence suggests that the European Union lacks a coordinated and uniform regulation in this domain, in particular in relation to human genomics. Combined with an inability to accompany rapid advances of scientific fields, this sets a scenery of grey areas in the legislation that can be potentially exploited by practically anyone - be it companies, academia, or individuals. In fact, as we were finalising this report, Chinese scientist He Jiankui claimed he had produced the first babies with an edited genome. The analysis of major ethical concerns on the human genomics field urges the need of inclusion of non-scientific groups into the ethical debate, as well as the need to address the complete non-compliance of any international guidelines by Direct-to-Consumer Genetic Testing (DTC-GT) companies, the fuzziness surrounding DTC-GT business model, and concerns surrounding confidentiality security in the age of -omics with possible social repercussions. Similarly, the lack of consistent ethical guidance on DIYbio needs attention. A boost in the presence of genomics related topics in the news media is also evident, reflecting to a certain extent an upsurge of reports of optimistic portrayal that can lead to misleading and misinformed enthusiasm. The importance and influence of new media and social media is a major concern that needs to be addressed in the evaluation of information’s quality and impact in the public. Finally, this report does not present an exhaustive evaluation of citizen engagement on the social or ethical impacts potentially arising from the developments in the human genomics field, but it identifies common problematics transversal to the studies included in our analysis. We can say that not many citizen engagement activities about human genomics were found, suggesting that there is a need for the creation of dialogue spaces about this technology and its potential applications. However, it offers an updated mapping of DIYbio communities and activities, illustrating the growth of this type of grassroots engagement activities. The report informs the next steps of implementation of citizen engagement activities in the human genomic field.JRC.I.2-Foresight, Modelling, Behavioural Insights & Design for Polic

Open Science – for whom?

Who can participate in Open Science and whose interests are served? Open Science in principle holds the potential to reduce inequality, but this is not going to happen unless it operates within a consistent framework and environment that supports this goal. Unequal power and opportunities from institutional to global level constitutes a major obstacle to human development, while we need to appreciate diversity as a key asset. How can we build an equitable global research ecosystem in accordance with the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development that recognises science as a global common good and an integral part of the shared cultural heritage of humankind?Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Mitigating losses: how scientific organisations can help address the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on early-career researchers.

Scientific collaborations among nations to address common problems and to build international partnerships as part of science diplomacy is a well-established notion. The international flow of people and ideas has played an important role in the advancement of the 'Sciences' and the current pandemic scenario has drawn attention towards the genuine need for a stronger role of science diplomacy, science advice and science communication. In dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic, visible interactions across science, policy, science communication to the public and diplomacy worldwide have promptly emerged. These interactions have benefited primarily the disciplines of knowledge that are directly informing the pandemic response, while other scientific fields have been relegated. The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on scientists of all disciplines and from all world regions are discussed here, with a focus on early-career researchers (ECRs), as a vulnerable population in the research system. Young academies and ECR-driven organisations could suggest ECR-powered solutions and actions that could have the potential to mitigate these effects on ECRs working on disciplines not related to the pandemic response. In relation with governments and other scientific organisations, they can have an impact on strengthening and creating fairer scientific systems for ECRs at the national, regional, and global level

A solution scan of societal options to reduce transmission and spread of respiratory viruses: SARS-CoV-2 as a case study.

Societal biosecurity - measures built into everyday society to minimize risks from pests and diseases - is an important aspect of managing epidemics and pandemics. We aimed to identify societal options for reducing the transmission and spread of respiratory viruses. We used SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2) as a case study to meet the immediate need to manage the COVID-19 pandemic and eventually transition to more normal societal conditions, and to catalog options for managing similar pandemics in the future. We used a 'solution scanning' approach. We read the literature; consulted psychology, public health, medical, and solution scanning experts; crowd-sourced options using social media; and collated comments on a preprint. Here, we present a list of 519 possible measures to reduce SARS-CoV-2 transmission and spread. We provide a long list of options for policymakers and businesses to consider when designing biosecurity plans to combat SARS-CoV-2 and similar pathogens in the future. We also developed an online application to help with this process. We encourage testing of actions, documentation of outcomes, revisions to the current list, and the addition of further options

Transcriptome Analysis of the Hippocampal CA1 Pyramidal Cell Region after Kainic Acid-Induced Status Epilepticus in Juvenile Rats

Molecular mechanisms involved in epileptogenesis in the developing brain remain poorly understood. The gene array approach could reveal some of the factors involved by allowing the identification of a broad scale of genes altered by seizures. In this study we used microarray analysis to reveal the gene expression profile of the laser microdissected hippocampal CA1 subregion one week after kainic acid (KA)-induced status epilepticus (SE) in 21-day-old rats, which are developmentally roughly comparable to juvenile children. The gene expression analysis with the Chipster software generated a total of 1592 differently expressed genes in the CA1 subregion of KA-treated rats compared to control rats. The KEGG database revealed that the identified genes were involved in pathways such as oxidative phosporylation (26 genes changed), and long-term potentiation (LTP; 18 genes changed). Also genes involved in Ca2+ homeostasis, gliosis, inflammation, and GABAergic transmission were altered. To validate the microarray results we further examined the protein expression for a subset of selected genes, glial fibrillary protein (GFAP), apolipoprotein E (apo E), cannabinoid type 1 receptor (CB1), Purkinje cell protein 4 (PEP-19), and interleukin 8 receptor (CXCR1), with immunohistochemistry, which confirmed the transcriptome results. Our results showed that SE resulted in no obvious CA1 neuronal loss, and alterations in the expression pattern of several genes during the early epileptogenic phase were comparable to previous gene expression studies of the adult hippocampus of both experimental epileptic animals and patients with temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE). However, some changes seem to occur after SE specifically in the juvenile rat hippocampus. Insight of the SE-induced alterations in gene expression and their related pathways could give us hints for the development of new target-specific antiepileptic drugs that interfere with the progression of the disease in the juvenile age group